Pizza Bianco
I am fascinated by the variety of pizzas in the world. Indeed, referring to pizza is like referring to a sandwich. I suppose the variations are endless. Here’s an excerpt from my favourite food read from over the summer: “Keeping the Feast” by Paula Butturini.
She writes: “And every Easter Sunday, a totally different sort of pizza, one meant to break the long Lenten fast, appeared on our breakfast table. It had a double crust like a calzone, but it was flatter and wider, shaped like a foot-long strudel. My grandmother called it “pizza gain”, and Anglicized version of pizza chine (KEE-nah), which in itself is dialect for pizza ripena, filled pizza. “Pizza gain” was stuffed with many of the foods that we could not eat during the forty-day Lenten fast: proscuitto crudo, dried sausage slices, fresh runny cheese, and hard grated cheese all mixed together with endless fresh eggs from cousin Josephine’s farm. We would cut into them on Easter morning and on every subsequent morning until they were gone, a treat so rich that two slim slices would make a meal. I loved the Russell Stover’s pecan-studded caramel egg that my grandmother arranged to have appear in my Easter basket every year, but I would have traded that egg away in a heartbeat for a whole “pizza gain” of my own.”
We are fond of a pizza variety that doesn’t really taste like pizza at all. I call it Pizza Bianca because it is made with entirely white ingredients: Alfredo sauce, chicken, roasted garlic, grated mozzarella and crumbled feta cheese. I assemble these things on top of a homemade pizza crust, not really caring how thinly I’ve rolled out the dough.
It makes a great “stand around in the kitchen while eating your supper” dish. I made it this past weekend when we called upon the Daughter #3 (daughter-in-law)’s folks to help with a painting project at the new house. In fact, they virtually handled the entire project by themsleves. As my dear Dad used to say “many hands make light work”.
Kath’s quote: “My idea of feng shui is to have them arrange the pepperoni in a circle on my pizza.”-Unknown
