Fresh Tart

Date Night, Bar La Belle Vie, all good.  We skipped wine and sipped truly yummy summer cocktails - tasties such as Old Cubans (Mount Gay Rum, Fresh Mint, Bitters, Fresh Lime and Cava) and Prince Alberts (Earl Grey Infused Bombay Sapphire Gin, Fresh Lemon Sweet & Sour And Soda).  We sat down at the bar and both said, "Gosh, I wish we'd invited Stu (the Wine Genius) and Debbie" and lo and behold, in walked Stu and Debbie and Debbie's awesome sister Michelle, no kidding.

We munched on the best - The Best - bar burgers in Minneapoils, the mini-lamb burgers, topped with a spicy pepper and yogurt sauce, juicy, lamb-y, spicy-creamy perfection, they kill me, seriously.

We also noshed on crispy-salty pommes frites, and downed a mache-baby artichoke salad tossed over a pool of cumin-yogurt and slices of artichoke that was particularly divine with swipes of pommes frites.

Fry this, fry that, shake this, shake that, all fab, yum.

A drive home around lovely Lake of the Isles and despite the cold (it's 58 degrees out there as I type, nice July, puhlease), a gorgeous night.

Well, I try.  And really, there's no reason that whole-grain bread, a moderate amount of cheese, as well as a generous amount of veggies and lean protein shouldn't be a perfectly nutritious dinner - it's just the gut-bomb delivery and restaurant version that does the major damage.  (And can you say sodium?  Pizza Hut = serious balloonness, I'd hate to know the sodium content and I like salt.)  I've linked to this whole-wheat crust recipe before and I'm here to say again that it is really, really fantastic.  It makes two baking-sheet size thin-crust pizzas, or three slightly smaller, cracker-thin crusts (that's how I like it).

I pre-bake the crusts, on a pan, for about 5 minutes first.  Then I top with a quick, chunky sauce (crushed tomatoes simmered briefly with a couple of cloves of minced garlic, a generous pinch of red pepper flakes and dried oregano), a small amount of shredded cheese (mozzarella works, of course, but provolone or fontina packs more flavor-punch), and a whatever-I'm-in-the-mood-for mix of vegetables and protein.  Pepperoni and green olives for my son.  Caramelized onions and pancetta for adults.  Shirmp and artichokes if I'm motivated (which I was - above are baby artichokes, sauteed with garlic).

After topping, I slide the pie directly onto the oven rack (no pan - thus the pre-bake, it has enough shape to sit directly on the rack) and bake until the toppings are bubbling and crust is crisp, about 10 minutes at 450 degrees F.  If you add heavier toppings, bake at 400 degrees for a bit longer.  Have fun and improvise freely.