Truffled “Raclette” Pizza: the Swiss Invasion
In this Foodbuzz challenge we were asked to re-envision a traditional Italian pizza from a different perspective. As i was thinking about this project there was a bloody war in the far confines of my imagination – Switzerland invaded Italy. I know the chances of this tiny pacifist nation invading anyone are [giggles] pretty slim but it didn’t stop me. I found the way to put the pride of an entire country on a pizza. And if it fits, you must… vote for me to go to round 6 of “The Next Food Blog Star”.
Swiss raclette is a very simple meal, originally a half cheese round was heated in front of an open fire and the melted cheese was scraped layer by layer on top of boiled potatoes and served alongside cured meats and pickled onions. Nowadays the open fire has been replaced by fancy raclette ‘grills’ but the concept remains the same. How could anyone go wrong with melted cheese on anything?
Hold on to that thought…
How could anyone go wrong with melted cheese AND a good shaving of black truffle? […]
I can hear crickets!
It’s not because Switzerland fits in the palm of your hand that you can’t think big and luxurious. And the snow, have we thought about the snow? I did.. I used Mangalica ham, an intensely flavored Spanish ham made from the rare Mangalica wooly snow pig which also led to their confusing nickname, “sheep pig”. It’s fattier than Iberico ham but the flavor is incredible. And imagine how much flavor the melting snow-white fatty parts bring to your pizza. Oh, and Hmm.. those pigs were trained to hunt black truffle..
Ok, i’ve made that up.
So here you have it, a layer of caramelized onions and fingerling potatoes topped with raclette cheese, Mangalica ham, mache and shaved black truffle. A raclette on a pizza.
I hope you’ll be yodeling all the way to the voting booth on Foodbuzz’s website (opened from October 18 to October 21). Thank you!
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Truffled “Raclette” Pizza
- Makes 4 pizzas
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For the no-knead pizza dough:
- Use Jim Lahey recipe substituting 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour with 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (optional)
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For the raclette topping:
- 2 Vidalia onions, finally sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 8 fingerling potatoes, boiled and peeled
- 8 ounces raclette cheese, sliced
- 1/2 lb Mangalica ham, sliced
- Mache
- Black truffle
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For the pizza:
- Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500’F.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the vidalia onion and cook until they start to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Roll out the pizza dough according to directions (follow link for recipe).
- Top with caramelized vidalia onions.
- Arrange 5 or 6 slices of fingerling potatoes on each pizza and top with chunks of raclette cheese.
- Cook on the very hot pizza stone for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden.
- Lay slices of Mangalica ham on top of the hot pizza and top with Mache tossed in olive oil.
- Shave some black truffle on top and serve immediately.
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