Lobster Pizza Revisited

After taste testing the Fabulous Fortieth Anniversary Pizza for the first time, it was unanimously decided that I had to go back to the drawing board if I wanted to include that recipe in my cookbook.  As you may recall, the Fabulous Fortieth pizza had a base of garlic paste, topped with manchego cheese, chunks of lobster, caramelized onion, and more cheese.  Somewhere between the overpowering taste of the roasted garlic paste and the sweetness of the caramelized onion, the delicate lobster was like a single clam at a lobster bake – totally lost.  This was not the fabulous lobster pizza I expected. 

Thus, the recipe revisions began and the second taste test took place last night.  I adjusted my original recipe by eliminating the roasted garlic paste, using as a substitute the melted butter in which I sautéed sliced shallots, garlic and red pepper flakes.  I also eliminated the caramelized onions and used the sautéed shallots which imparted a much more delicate onion flavor.  Manchego, a fatty Spanish cheese made from ewes’ milk, complimented rather than overpowered each of the other delicate ingredients.  I used two 5 ounce Brazilian lobster tails which was more than enough, allowing for a nice chunk of lobster in every bite.  The finishing touches of chives, freshly grated lemon zest, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper added to the depth of flavor, the zest providing a nice high note.  I drizzled a bit of white truffle oil over all, but it added nothing as far as I could tell from the two small squares I consumed.

Yes, you read that correctly.  I did have two squares of that incredibly luscious pizza and still managed to stay on my Weight Watchers plan.  I have learned that the problem is not the actual food one eats; rather it is the amount of that food shoveled into the mouth that causes the problem.  You actually do not have to give up any one food; you just need to eat realistic portions.  Oh God, now I sound like my mother…that’s scary!  At any rate, it’s working for me.

A new strategy I used at the ‘Fabulous Fortieth’ taste testing dinner was to serve a fresh salad with the pizza.  Can you believe this strategy is new to me?  Well, growing up in my big Italian family, pizza was a balanced meal in and of itself.  You had your grain, your vegetables, your meat and your dairy….no need for salad to balance that equation.   My salad of spring greens, sliced red pears, crumbled blue cheese, toasted walnuts and light vinaigrette paired perfectly with the pizza and saved me from reaching for a third piece; I reached instead for more salad.  As I slowly ate my salad, I was able to sit back and watch my guests enjoying every last morsel of pizza left on the serving board.  I then knew that my recipe revisions were spot on and the Fabulous Fortieth Anniversary Pizza would indeed be included in Pizza Memoirs. 



The new Fabulous Fortieth Anniversary Pizza ~ Taste the Love