I have been wanting to make pizza from scratch for a while now, but the whole crust process was pretty intimidating and I couldn’t find a recipe online that I really wanted to use.  Lucky for me, I went to The Essential New York Times Cookbook launch event at Rain Lily Farms this weekend, where I bought a signed copy of Amanda Hesser’s so named new cookbook.

The event was fun for lots of reasons, but the biggest takeaway of the night for me was definitely the book.  It’s 970 pages of awesome recipes. No pictures. No fluff. Just lots and lots of wonderful food, plus Amanda Hesser’s autograph on the inside cover.  (FYI, Christmas shoppers, I called BookPeople this morning and they still had signed copies available.)

The first recipe I tried from the cookbook was Mark Bittman’s Pizza Dough, and boy was it a winner.  It took all of 10 minutes to put together the night before, and another 5 minutes tonight to turn into this lovely rosemary apple brie pizza.  Mark Bittman has published the full recipe, with instructions as they appear in the cookbook, on his website, so I hope you’ll try it too!

Pizza with Rosemary, Apples and Brie
1 recipe pizza dough, such as Mark Bittman’s , divided into two pieces
Toppings:
1 apple, cored and sliced very thin
1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced very thin
6 oz. brie, sliced in pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped rosemary
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Prepare pizza dough according to recipe the night before and allow to rise in the refrigerator during the day. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Remove cold dough from fridge and allow to come to room temperature while you prepare the toppings.  For toppings, remove rosemary needles from woody stem and chop.  Slice half an onion as thin as you can manage and separate the rings. Core the apple and slice very thin.  Slice the brie into pieces. (This will be easier if you put the cheese in the freezer for a few minutes first.)  Peel and chop 4 cloves of garlic.

Prepare two cookie sheets or pizza pans with baking parchment.  Roll out pizza crusts, one at a time, on a floured surface until they are the correct size for your pans.  Mine ended up at 14 x 10 inches, but any size and shape will work.  Transfer to the prepared pans.  Note: If you are using a pizza stone or nicer nonstick baking sheets than I own, feel free to omit the parchment and instead oil the pans. No way can I do that with my cheapo cookie sheets!

Brush each crust with a tablespoon of oil and sprinkle with a tablespoon each rosemary and garlic.  Arrange apple slices, onion pieces and brie on each crust and sprinkle with remaining rosemary.  Drizzle remaining oil over top, along with a few pinches of salt.  Bake in preheated over for 11 minutes.  This recipe makes two medium pizzas, enough for 3-4 adults as a main dish.  Cut into bite-sized pieces, this would be wonderful finger food at a cocktail party.

Here’s my pizza before baking:

And after:

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe.