Date Night Pizza

I'm not quite sure how this happened, but last Friday night, Andy and I managed to have a nice quiet dinner at home -- just the two of us -- even though there were six girls under nine years old in our house as we did so. It was Dinner-and-a-Movie night -- P and A were allowed to invite a few friends over for pizza, ice cream sundaes, and a screening of Despicable Me -- and it was pure madness until we pressed play on the DVD player. At that point, we 2.0'ed the kids' basic mozzarella-and-marinara pizza and made this arugula-and-ricotta version, then poured a glass of Pinot and had an actual, audible conversation.

White Pizza with Arugula

Preheat oven to 500°F. Using your fingers, flatten and "push" 1 ball of pizza dough (preferably Jim Lahey's homemade) as thin as you can on an olive-oiled cookie sheet. Cover dough with slices of fresh mozzarella (about 1 ball) and brush exposed edge of crust with a little olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes until crust is crispy and cheese is bubbly. (If cheese starts to bubble before crust looks done, cover center of pizza with foil.) While pizza bakes, toss together a few handfuls of arugula with 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, 1/3 cup olive oil and a generous squeeze of lemon. Top pizza with salad and dollops of fresh ricotta. Finish with a few grinds of black pepper and a few leaves of fresh oregano if you have it.