Potato pizza

Potato pizza is carb heaven, something I crave in the colder months.

The inspiration for this pizza came from a London pizza place in Covent Garden that puts all sorts of non-typical things on to pizza: curries, fried eggs, duck. I went to this restaurant a while ago with friends and had a fantastic pizza with potatoes, bacon and sour cream. I can't resist sour cream in almost any form, so I had to try this pizza. It was fantastic and I ran back to try it at home.

That trial took about 6 months, but still, it's the effort that counts!

As it was a weeknight when I made the pizza, I was in a rush to cook and eat my carbohydrate-laden dinner after a day's work. I didn't peel the potatoes, just sliced them thinly using a mandolin and hoped they would cook on the pizza base.

(Mandolin = stringed instrument often used in and associated with folk/Americana music; or, slanted stand with blade kitchen utensil for thinly slicing vegetables and things)

Just wait until you hear about eating Penguins!*

Throw the sliced potatoes into a bowl with some herbs de provence and olive oil and toss them around until coated.

Take your pizza dough mixture ball and roll it out flat in some semblance of a round shape.

Show off your engagement ring while spreading some olive oil onto the pizza base. :)

Meanwhile, I had some sliced red onions caramelizing in the background, which I then spread on to the pizza base. If you can't wait for the onions to actually caramelize, you can always add a teaspoon of brown sugar, which will help it along, or for this dish, a splash of balsamic vinegar which will sweeten as it cooks down.

Spread the potatoes on top of the onions in a neat layer.

Then cut some mozzarella (the real stuff, no imitations please) into chunks and sprinkle those about.

Cook for 15-20 minutes and there you have it! You can easily add crumbled bacon, sour cream, or parmesan on top, or anything else you want. It's pizza, which has been taken over by practically every culture on the planet and made to fit; make it to suit you!

* No worries, they don't eat real penguins here, though it did throw me the first time I heard someone say they packed a penguin in a child's lunch. Penguin is a type of chocolate sweet. :)