Grilled Fingerling Potato Pizza

Farm fresh potatoes are such a delight; we created this grilled fingerling potato pizza using potatoes found at the farmer's market, home-grown rosemary, salt, pepper, olive oil, and Gruyere cheese. I love how the various colors of the potatoes delight the eye, and the flavor is unbelievably good.  We have also made this pizza with diced pancetta which makes the pizza taste almost like a morning breakfast...in Italy.

 

Here's how to make it.  First, boil your potatoes until they are just done.  They should be firm, not too mushy.  You want the potatoes to hold their shape.  If you don't have fingerling potatoes, small new potatoes work well too.  Cut the potatoes into thin slices.  For the dough, we used dough from our restaurant, Mia's Pizza and Eats; you can of course make your own, buy from your grocer, or head to your favorite pizzeria and ask to buy a small dough ball.  Drizzle the dough with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper, layer on the potatoes and the rosemary, add the pancetta (first fry it in a pan to crisp it), and top with shredded Gruyere; if you don't have Gruyere, a Swiss cheese or even a sharp cheddar would work well here too.   Cook on a pizza stone on your grill for about four minutes; check the pizza often and give it a 3/4 turn each minute.  You will love this combination!

The life which [has no pizza] is not worth living.

The yellowy, pollinated haze of an April day furthers my spirit's intoxication as I watch Mia.  I can watch her little fuzzy headed smiling self walk over and greet me in the mornings, or I can watch her hum a little tune with the sweetest voice I have ever heard.  I can watch her dump out a bowl of bottle caps and then one-by-one plop them back into a cup, or I can watch her pick up rocks and tuck them safely away in her jacket pocket.  It doesn't matter what she does; in her presence, I am in awe, I am happy, I am whole.

Time has slowed down for me these past few days, so I can focus on what is most important in life, and that is most definitely her.  We have been working on a surprise art project to give Daddy as a gift to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the restaurant.  We have also been reading lots of books about pizza -- we have many.  We have even been making our own "pizzas" out of homemade play dough.  Whatever we do, there seems to be pizza involved. 

Homemade Play Dough Recipe

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 4 teaspoons cream of tarter
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• food coloring of choice (I prefer the gel kind -- more vibrant)
• Mix dry ingredients first.  Add wet ingredients.  You can make one large batch of the same color, or you can split the batch into four smaller batches and make a rainbow of colors. 
• Heat over low heat (I use a nonstick frying pan), stirring constantly for 2-4 minutes. 
• Knead well.
• Store in an airtight container indefinitely.