From Greg Atkinson

When we made various styles of individual pizzas for the appetizer section of our menus in the 1980s, a number of West Coast chefs settled on some combination of roasted red peppers, goat cheese, and garlic. All these flavors seemed so straightforward and of the moment then—and somehow, even twenty years later, they still do. Don’t succumb to the urge to buy already roasted red peppers in a jar; they never taste as good as they look.

Makes 6 individual pizzas

4 medium sweet organic red bell peppers
6 cloves garlic, sliced into paper-thin rounds
6 tablespoons (about 1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil
Individual pizza crusts (see below)
8 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) goat cheese, crumbled

1. Roast the peppers. Preheat the broiler and position an oven rack 6 inches below the broiler element. Put the peppers on a baking sheet and broil until the skin on the side of the peppers closest to the hot element is blistered and blackened, about 4 minutes. Give the peppers a turn, positioning the blackened side not on the bottom, but to one side, and broil until another side is blackened. Turn the peppers once more to blacken the third surface of the peppers. Transfer the peppers to a brown paper bag and let them stand at room temperature until they have cooled to room remperature, about 15 minutes.

2. Switch the oven from broil to bake at 450°F. While the peppers are cooling, cook the sliced garlic cloves in the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until they are very lightly browned. Take the pan off the heat and let the garlic cool in the oil.

3. Peel the peppers by hand; the skin should pull right off. Under running water, briefly rinse off most of the clinging, blackened bits of skin. Don’t rinse too vigorously or you’ll wash away the flavor. Pull the peppers open and remove the seeds and any remaining cores.

4. Tear the peppers into rough strips and distribute them evenly over the surface of the partially baked crusts. Crumble the goat cheese over the pepper strips and drizzle the garlic and olive oil over the cheese. Bake until the crusts are well browned and the topping is bubbling hot, 12 – 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Individual Pizza Crusts

1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups organic unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt, or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. In a large measuring cup, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the water and stir to dissolve. Allow the mixture to stand until the yeast is softened, about 5 minutes, and then stir until the yeast is completely dissolved.

2. Put the flour and salt in the work bowl of a food processor and, with the motor running, pour in the water and yeast mixture and the olive oil.

3. Process until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the work bowl, about 2 minutes.

4. Allow the dough to rise in the machine until it is doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. (If the machine is needed for another purpose, the dough can be transferred to a mixing bowl lightly rubbed with olive oil.)

5. When the dough has risen, pulse the motor on and off a few times to drive out the air and collapse the dough back into a ball. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and divide it into 6 golf ball-sized pieces. Allow the pieces to rest until they are no longer springy but soft and pliable, about 5 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 425°F and put a pizza stone on the lowest rack. If no pizza stone is available, put a rack in the lowest position and preheat a heavy aluminum baking sheet on the rack.

7. Roll each piece of dough into a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Bake the circles of dough, one or two at a time, until they are puffed and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. The partially baked crusts can be prepared several hours or up to 1 day in advance, then topped and baked just before serving.
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Greg Atkinson is author of West Coast Cooking and lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
© Copyright Greg Atkinson
Image Credit: Goats of Galabertès
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