Ramps!

I’ve always been too intimidated to use yeast before but my stand mixer has given me increased confidence so I decided to face my fears and just do it. I decided to make pizza dough. Because it is a wonderful vehicle for ramps which were in season when I made the pizza two months ago but I’ve been a little lazy with the blogging so I don't know if they are available anymore...

White Pizza with Ramps

Pizza dough

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water

In a large bowl, whisk the flour together with the yeast, salt and sugar. Pour in the water and stir well with a wooden spoon to form a dough. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a few minutes until smooth. Transfer the pizza dough to a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let stand in a warm place until the pizza dough has doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Topping

garlic confit (see recipe below)

2 cups of fresh ricotta

Olive oil

1 cup grated mozzarella

¼ cup grated parmesan

1 bunch of ramps, sliced

¼ lb prosciutto

Heat canola oil in a small sauce pan. Add the garlic cloves and cook over low heat to create a confit. Bubbles will form on the cloves but if they start to rise to the surface, reduce the heat. Cook for about 45 minutes or until the garlic is very soft. Remove the cloves and add them to the ricotta. Mush up the garlic so that it creates a paste with the ricotta. Add some olive oil to make it easier to spread.

Spread the ricotta/garlic mixture on the pizza dough. Top with mozzarella, parmesan, and ramps. Bake for about 8 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the crust is crisp. Top with prosciutto and serve hot.

Garlic Confit

½ cup peeled garlic cloves (about 24 cloves)

About 2 cups canola oil

Cut off and discard the root ends of the garlic cloves. Place the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch- none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil.

Place the saucepan over very low heat. The cloves should cook gently; small bubbles will come up through the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface. Cook the garlic for 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.