Cake, Batter, and Bowl

White Pizza with Sausage, Pancetta, Leeks, and Parmesan

Main Dishes

Apolinaras and I recently celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary with a trip to Martha’s Vineyard over Memorial Day weekend! I really can’t believe it’s already been eight years. It was our last vacation before the baby arrives, so there was nothing on our agenda except relaxing.

We spent most of our time wandering around Edgartown and enjoying the gorgeous scenery.

We climbed to the top of the Edgartown lighthouse,

and visited a couple different beaches, including South Beach. The water was actually warm enough that I got in, but the waves were so strong that one knocked me over! So, I spent the rest of the time reading on the beach and watching Apolinaras splash around instead.

He also had fun collecting shells and building me this little present, which was super cute (look carefully at what the shells spell out!). I really can’t wait to see him play with our daughter in the sand!

Our hotel, the Vineyard Square Hotel and Suites, was in a fabulous location within walking distance of everywhere you’d like to stroll in Edgartown. I also loved their large front porch, where we enjoyed treats almost every afternoon – yay for iced chai and carrot cake!

We also had a couple of lovely causal meals, and one of our favorites was at Offshore Ale Company in Ocean Bluffs, which we just visited for the afternoon. We split clam chowder and a pizza topped with duck, leeks, and pancetta. I’m always ready for pizza, but Apolinaras is a bit of a pizza snob and really only enjoys gourmet pies with unique flavor combos. This one hit the spot so much that I was recently inspired to whip up a similar version at home.

I spread the crust with a white sauce featuring asiago cheese and then topped it with spicy Andouille chicken sausage, pancetta, leeks, and freshly shaved parmesan. This pie was incredibly tasty and filling – I can’t wait to make it again.

White Pizza with Sausage, Pancetta, Leeks, and Parmesan
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Toppings:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Andouille chicken sausage, sliced
4 ounces pancetta
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, chopped

White Sauce:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 1/2 cups shredded asiago cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt

For pizza assembly:
1 pound of your favorite pizza dough (I used whole wheat from Trader Joe’s)
1/2 cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese

Directions:
To prepare the toppings, heat olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sausages, pancetta, and leeks and sauté 12 to 15 minutes or sausages are browned and leeks are tender.

To make the sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and cook one more minute or until mixture starts to brown. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and mix in asiago cheese and salt. Heat 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth, whisking occasionally.

To make the pizza, heat oven and a pizza stone to 500˚F. Place pizza dough onto a surface spread with semolina flour and spread dough into desired shape. Place shaped dough onto a greased peel or pizza pan and evenly spread sauce on top; sprinkle evenly with toppings. Either place pizza directly onto the pizza stone if using a peel or place the pizza pan on top of the pizza stone and bake at 500°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown; sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Cool for 5 minutes and cut into slices. Makes 8 slices.

Nutrition: 423 calories, 24.2g fat, 3.2g fiber, 28.8g protein per slice
Cost: $1.33 per slice

CABLT (aka Chicken, Avocado, Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato) Sandwiches

I thought it would be fun to share a little pregnancy update today! I’m somehow already 34 weeks along – how crazy is that? Our little girl is very active and loves to kick and squirm around, especially after dinner when I’m relaxing. Apolinaras’ voice always seems to...

Mediterranean Couscous

Some things are just meant to be. A couple of weeks ago I was jogging through Harvard Square when I heard someone calling my name. I was disoriented for a second, but when I turned around, I was surprised to see that it was my friend Rashmi from college – crazy, huh –...

Spinach Sauce Pasta with Shrimp

Work has been more hectic than usual lately so I was trying to brainstorm ways to be more efficient when a light bulb went off and I realized that I could save a bunch of time if I started running home from work a few times a week! Not only do I get a great workout...

Shrimp Fried Rice with Edamame, Corn, and Red Pepper Succotash

I'm back from San Diego and it was quite the trip! I'm already looking forward to going through my pictures and posting a recap this weekend, but for now, all I want to do is curl up and go to sleep. For some reason I thought it would be a great idea to take the...

Soba Noodles with Eggplant, Snow Peas, and Tofu

We’ve been so busy lately that I’ve baked more “emergency” frozen pizzas for dinner than I’d care to admit. I have managed to whip up some soba noodles a couple of times though. They’re so quick and tasty, and there’s nothing better than a one pot meal. For this...

Mexican Polenta Rounds

I just got back from San Diego, where I attended a conference for work. The days were packed with lectures and the hotel was a bit isolated on Coronado Island, so I didn’t actually get to spend any time sightseeing. Good thing I’ve already been to San Diego a couple...

Mediterranean Portobello Mushroom and Eggplant Stacks

Although I make vegetarian meals a couple times a week, it’s usually because I’m feeling too lazy to really cook. I often whip up simple meals like pizza, tofu fried rice, or breakfast for dinner when I’m super busy, but I rarely put extra effort into making really...

Five Spice Scallops over Sesame Spinach

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had seven adults at our celebration, including Shannon and her parents, and my good friend Geeti and her hubby Puneet and their cutie newborn son. Shannon and I split up the menu so we both ended up being quite relaxed...