Pizza with prosciutto + arugula + capers

I went to work after a five-day fiesta of holiday spectacularness and tried to get a couple of things done.  Really I did.  But alas, my return was less than impressive.  I can’t quite bring myself to confess  just how long it took me to compose half a dozen  e-mails with clumsy fingers that seemed to be receiving instructions from a pudding-filled skull.  I finally gave up–in part because of the garbagey quality of what I was turning out, and in part because the office assistant was piercing me with looks that I was slow to interpret as “if you leave, I can leave!  no one else is here!  what the hell, woman?”

And so I came home and undertook a much more successful pursuit: one that involved eating capers straight from the jar and feeding bits of prosciutto to the Giant Kitty.  And look, I even managed to make a pizza!

Pizza dough

• 1.5 cup white flour + 0.5 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 2/3 cup lukewarm water

1. Combine the water, honey, and yeast.  Let this initially less-than-attractive fluid rest for 3-4 minutes, until it’s all jolly and bubbly.
2. Add flour; knead.
3. Let the dough rest in a warm and cozy place for 30 minutes while you look at Facebook photos of that high school friend who really let herself go.  Call your husband to have a look.
4. Knead the dough again; let it rest for another 20-30 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough, add toppings, and bake at 400F for 15 minutes.

Toppings:

• 4-5 tablespoons tomato sauce
• prosciutto
• capers
• cheese (we used Chimay vieux just because that’s what we had)
• arugula (add this after the pizza is done but still sitting in the oven for a minute or two)

Goat cheese with capers and roasted tomatoes

Why do I even bother with multi-step dishes when something this simple makes people swoon?

• goat cheese
• capers
• roasted tomatoes

1. Tomatoes go on top of the cheese.
2. Capers go on top of the tomatoes.
3. Everything goes into the oven: 10 minutes at 375F.