Pizza Night by Alison Roman

Gosh, I love pizza. And this was really good pizza. I saved this recipe for the end of the project, knowing I’d need something to look forward to amidst all the seafood. 

The dough is made using Alison’s Overnight Focaccia, Tonight recipe. I wrote a funky stream-of-consciousness essay about that focaccia here. The dough is proved and ready for baking within about 3 hours of starting the recipe. So, hoping to eat at 6:00pm, I started the dough at 3:00pm. 

While the dough rose, I made Alison’s simple tomato sauce. And I’ll admit, it seemed almost too simple. A few smashed garlic cloves, a can of tomatoes, salt and pepper. I don’t want to make tomato sauce complicated, but would this have enough flavor? The answer is most certainly, yes. She’s not specific about salt amounts, so I used 1 tsp., in keeping with the fairly simple tomato sauce recipe I love from Julia Turshen’s “Small Victories.” The sauce needs only a half hour or so to thicken up a bit and let the garlic infuse the tomatoes. I didn’t have whole peeled tomatoes on hand, just diced. Once the tomatoes were warmed through, I crushed them against the side of the pot with the back of a wooden spoon to achieve a similar texture and consistency. 

I love how simple, yet effective Alison’s topping suggestions are. Little is required to prep them beyond slicing a red onion and tearing up pieces of kale. She leaves all the work for the assembly, which is the most fun part any way. This recipe creates two pizzas, however I wanted to cook them one at a time. Stacking two baking sheets in my oven makes everything take longer and cook more imprecisely. To stagger the pizzas, I separated the dough in two after the second rise and put half in the fridge, covered in saran wrap. I let the first dough prove on a baking sheet, then topped it for baking about 35 minutes later. 

The first pizza was Alison’s Pepperoni Pie, and I followed it to a tee: tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, red onion, olive oil drizzled over the crust, then sprinkled with flaky salt. The instructions say to bake for 30 to 35 minutes. I removed my pie in 30 minutes, and found that the crust got a little overbaked. It was rather tough to bite into. I course-corrected the second pie and took it out in 27 minutes. The crust was comparatively easier to chew, but still achieved that toasty, golden look. 

While the pepperoni pie baked in the oven, I let the second dough prove on a sheet pan for the other pizza: Lemony Greens Pie. Jordan and I are big “meat on my pizza” people, so I was shocked to hear that both he and one of our dinner guests preferred this pizza over the pepperoni pie. I was worried that this pie wouldn’t have much going for it, flavor-wise, but I was wrong. 

I followed Alison’s topping list again: whole milk ricotta, topped with torn kale massaged in olive oil, grated parmesan, red onion, olive oil drizzled over the crust, then sprinkled with flaky salt. I also added red pepper flakes for a touch of heat. After the pizza came out of the oven, I topped it with parsley and lemon juice, plus a few finely chopped anchovies. The kale comes out partially crisped, and the parmesan becomes sort of crunchy and golden. Lemon juice really unites the ingredients and makes them taste brighter. 

I served the pizzas with Alison’s Crushed Peas and Burrata Salad (a great combo!), and her Coconut Banana Cream Pudding (post to come). 

This recipe has inspired me to get more creative and adventurous with my pizzas. Homemade pizza using store-bought dough is a common meal in our home, and I tend to use the same topping combinations each time. I’m excited to start using more variations per Alison’s list of toppings and improvise with what I have on hand. For example, I recently purchased a bag of nutritional yeast that I should try sprinkling on top of my next pizza. I doubt I’ll make her dough many more times, as I don’t love the way the crust turned out more crunchy than chewy. I think the Whole Foods brand of pizza dough cooks perfectly and takes far less effort. But that dough, topped with Alison’s topping combos? Now that’s a pizza night I look forward to.  

203 recipes cooked, 22 to go.

The Greatest Creamed Greens by Alison Roman

What can I say about creamed greens? Alison speaks of them like they’re classic American food. Like anyone who’s had a steak and a baked potato has also had creamed greens. Apparently every good steakhouse serves them? Either I’ve never been to a proper steakhouse, or my mother’s aversion to cooking anything with excess fat or olive oil has kept me from experiencing the richness of some creamed greens. 

But for a first eating of creamed greens, I’ll say Alisons’ were pretty great. 

The recipe begins with breadcrumbs, as all good recipes tend to do. Crisp up fresh crumbs in oil, salt and pepper to a golden perfection. I might go wild next time and add some Aleppo pepper to the crumbs for a bit more heat. 

Next, bring heavy cream to a simmer and drop in several smashed garlic cloves and a dash of nutmeg (yes, nutmeg). Alison calls for freshly grated nutmeg, but I want to know who, if anyone ever, has made this recipe with fresh nutmeg. Where would one find such a thing? And who has the time? I don’t think she’d mind using ground nutmeg… the title of her other cookbook is “nothing fancy” after all. This creamy deliciousness cooks down to a thicker sauce that truly tastes like Alfredo (even though no cheese is involved!). The whole process took about 20 minutes. 

In the meantime, cook down two bunches of Dino kale. At first, I thought, this is too much kale! But no. It’s perfect. It cooks down so much that you’re left with a medium sized bowl that’s halfway full of them by the end. The key here is to cook them in batches at a medium temp, so they don’t overcrowd or get browned. Once wilted, stir in the cream sauce and creme fraiche. 

Ah, creme fraiche. The golden ingredient of every recipe it’s in. If Alison can claim these are the “greatest” creamed greens, it’s because of this ingredient, which adds a tangy depth without making it all taste even heavier. Creme fraiche is unskippable, so don’t even think about jettison-ing it. A mandatory fancieness. 

164 recipes cooked, 61 to go.

Hanger Steak with Dandelion, Arugula, and Grana Padano by Alison Roman

Though this recipe appears in the Meat section, it is really a glorified steak salad. In fact, it’s the best steak salad I’ve ever had. 

Here’s why. All previous steak salads did one thing for me. They made me constantly choose between a bite of steak or a bite of salad. When I was hungry for a bite of beef, my fork would have to rummage around for it, knocking back leafy greens as it went. If I wanted lettuce and dressing, my fork would dodge steak bits in search of the perfect stack of leaves. It sounds like a lot of effort because it was. And until this dish, I’ve always wished that my steak would just be served separately from my salad from the beginning. 

This steak, and this salad, well, they belong together. In the same bite. Gone were my desires to curate the perfect forkful. Every bite was effortlessly lovely. The flavors and textures worked together so seamlessly that any combination was delightful. The elements to this perfect steak salad are as follows: 

• Red onion soaked in ice water. This mellows the bite, but leaves enough umpf behind to make the red onion a real player. 

• The simplest of dressings. Just olive oil, a dash of fish sauce, salt and pepper, mixed with finely chopped dandelion greens and arugula (or in my case, baby kale). 

• Medium rare steak. The recipe calls for Hanger steak, but I couldn’t find it. I even asked the meat guy at Whole Foods and he said they never carry it. According to the internet, and the meat guy, the closest substitute is Flank steak. So that’s what I used. I seasoned the steak with salt and pepper and seared it in my cast iron over medium-high heat. All it took was 5 minutes on each side and another 5 minutes to rest before slicing against the grain. This steak is solid proof that you really only need salt and pepper to turn out a fabulous piece of meat. That and a meat thermometer so you can easily gauge the cooking time. 

• Dandelion greens and baby kale. Dandelion greens are very bitter (really, so bitter). And that bitterness, in my opinion, is what made this salad so cohesive. The leaves provided just the right balance to the salty steak. They were meant to be eaten in the same bite. Baby kale was a subtle undertone to the steak and dandelion greens. I chose baby kale because I wanted something a bit mellower than peppery arugula for this undertone role. The greens are tossed with a bit of lemon juice and salt before joining the onions and pieces of steak. 

• Shaved grana padano really complements the whole ensemble.

Honestly, please try making this salad for yourself. Or ask me to make it for you. I will gladly eat it again. 

109 recipes cooked, 116 to go.

Raw and Roasted Kale with Pistachios and Creamy Pecorino by Alison Roman

You’ve had kale chips before, right? Well this is essentially a salad of kale chips with lemon and cheese (and nuts if you want ‘em), and it’s delicious. 

My friend Kearci, who, by the way, gifted me with Alison’s nothing fancy, raves about this recipe, and insisted that we make it as part of our All-Out-Alison meal during Friendship Weekend. (FW is a term I just made up to refer to the one weekend a year that Kearci usually comes to visit me in whatever state I’m living in at that moment. #truefriend) 

Similar to a kale chip recipe, the leaves are removed from the stems and tossed in olive oil, Aleppo pepper, salt, and black pepper before roasting them for 10-15 minutes. The key here is not to let the kale crisp to the point of browning, but rather just the moment before it starts to change color. (A little brown is okay, but we don’t want burned kale.) 

Meanwhile, we made a dressing with shaved pecorino (or parmesan, because that’s what I had on hand), olive oil, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, and salt and pepper. Once the leaves were properly roasted, we tossed them with the dressing. 

Now, I must admit that upon re-reading the recipe for the writing of this post, I realized that we left out one key element. Alison says to reserve half of the raw kale to combine with the roasted kale (hence the name of this recipe, lol). Instead, we roasted all of the greens with much enthusiasm. I have no regrets. However, I can see why the dressing has olive oil now, because that’s meant to soften the raw kale. I bet both versions of this salad are probably lovely. 

95 recipes cooked, 130 to go.

Eggs and Kale Fried in Chicken Fat by Alison Roman

I love fried eggs. I have since the morning in college that I saw Sarah (a personal hero of mine) dip her toast into the runny egg yolk pooling on her plate. I grew up in a household that cooks egg yolks until very dry. So I had subscribed to the dry egg yolk idea myself. Until Sarah unashamedly revelled in the goodness of a runny yolk and declared it her favorite breakfast. All of my assumptions about eggs went straight out the window. If Sarah can enjoy a bright yellow pool of yolk, you bet I can too. From that day on, I’ve made only over-easy fried eggs, and I always have them with toast. 

Alison Roman has succeeded in upping over-easy fried eggs’ ante by swapping the typical olive oil or butter with chicken fat. To my fellow fried egg lovers, let me tell you, this substitution will rock your egg world. 

“Where does one acquire chicken fat?,” I initially wondered. Never fear, Alison’s got you covered. Yesterday I posted about Crispy Chicken Legs with Tiny Potatoes. Well, the cup and a half of olive oil used to cook the chicken legs can be strained and saved for this very purpose! This leftover oil can be used for other cooking needs as well. For example, I used it to make a batch of Alison’s Roasted Tomato and Anchovy Bucatini a few days ago. 

Just the act of re-heating this oily fat in the pan releases so many irresistible smells - salty chicken, poached garlic, a hint of rosemary. My mouth watered before the eggs were even cracked from their shells. Both the kale and eggs are fried in the fat separately. The kale only spends about 4 minutes in the pan, until it begins to crisp at the edges. The eggs spend about 3 minutes over medium-high heat, making sure the yolks remain full of runny goodness. 

I can’t recommend enough the power of a piece of homemade sourdough bread to drag across the yolk. I imagine a homemade english muffin would have the same effect. 

The crispy chicken recipe yielded about 1 cup of fat. This egg and kale recipe only requires 4 Tbsp, so there is enough for several breakfasts more. I will savor every drop.

42 recipes cooked, 183 to go.