Turkish Pizza a la Rendezvous

TOTAL TIME: 40 min

Prep: 30 min

Inactive Prep:--

Cook: 10 min

YIELD:8 servings

LEVEL:Intermediate

Ingredients

PIZZA BASE:

• 1 teaspoon cracked fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 ounce fresh baker's yeast or 1/2 ounce dried yeast
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt

PIZZA TOPPINGS:

• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• Large roasted eggplant pureed with a garlic clove, chopped mint, pinch each of cumin and coriander, and 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 tomatoes, coarsely cut (1/2 tomato for each pizza)
• 4 cups crumbled goat's milk feta cheese (1/2 cup for each pizza)
• 2 cups chopped black olives (1/4 cup for each pizza)
• 8 tablespoons chopped capers (1 tablespoon for each pizza)
• Maras pepper, for sprinkling
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• Chopped fresh wild marjoram, for garnish
• Cook's Note: Maras pepper is a Turkish dried and crushed red pepper

Directions

In a small saute pan, gently warm the fennel seeds, pepper, rosemary and thyme in the olive oil. The temperature should not go above 110 degrees F. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.In the meantime, in a large mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water and add the yeast. When the mixture starts to foam on top, after about 3 minutes, add the flour, salt and the infused olive oil. Knead until the dough is smooth and shiny, about 5 minutes.Divide each 14 ounce ball into 4 equal portions. Do not knead these balls, but roll them out into 8 flat rounds approximately 9 inches in diameter.Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.Drizzle each pizza with extra-virgin olive oil before topping. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes.Sprinkle the cooked pizzas with chopped parsley and wild marjoram and another light drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.