Last week I saw a post on Slashfood describing an Olive and Brie pizza, devised by the marketing department at Lindsay Olives. It immediately struck me as an interesting combination of flavors and something I would definitely have to try, only without the Lindsay Olives because I just don’t see the point of those bland, canned black olives. And my friends, let me tell you, this was a little bit unreal, that’s how good it was. The saltiness of the kalamatas meld with the smoothness of the brie and the slightly sweet sourness of the mustard to create something wholly unique and satisfying. Crystal brought home an unbelievably good prosecco, too, which complemented this pizza like they were made for each other.
This was a night of celebratory mourning (whatever that means) as it was the series finale of Gilmore Girls. Thus our weekly date of dinner and Gilmores, ongoing for at least two years, comes to an end, right before Alex leaves us, and as we move into Crystal’s last summer in Boston. Fitting somehow, or am I being sentimental?
Kalamata Olive and Brie Pizza
- prepared pizza dough (I used the whole wheat crust adapted from Peter Reinhart that I’ve made before)
- 2 T. dijon mustard (I actually combined 1 tablespoon each of Dijon and Maille whole grain sweet mustard; this takes the place of tomato sauce)
- 6 oz. brie cheese
- 3 plum tomatoes, cut into chunks (or slices, depending on your taste)
- a good 3/4 c. to 1 c. kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
- a handful of chopped scallions or green onions
- a sprinkling of oregano (I couldn’t find fresh, so I used dried)
- 1/2 c. parmesan
This isn’t a recipe so much as a list of helpful hints. Or one helpful hint, specifically: Chill the brie a little, so it’s easier to remove the rind. Then let it sit out and get soft, so you can smear it on over the dijon mustard, almost like another sauce. I had a bitch of a time getting the cheese away from the rind, and I’m sure I wasted a sad, sad amount of cheese. Plus it was painfully messy.
I cooked it for about 8 minutes in a 525F oven, on the back of an ungreased baking sheet, and the crust was lovely and crispy and really nearing the ideal I’ve been seeking. The only issue I had with this one was that the dough was a little tough and I couldn’t get it as thin as I wanted. But I’m getting there! Is this becoming an obsession? Possibly.
I really can’t overestimate how delicious this pizza was. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe, the olives were beautiful and salty and oily. It was like a pizza revelation. How did the marketers come up with this? And how sad is it that the thing they were trying to market with this recipe, their crappy olives, would have dragged it down to an entirely pedestrian level?
As for the Gilmores, I have to say I wasn’t as disappointed as I expected to be. The abruptness of the series’s end, the rumours we’d been reading from the cast about how dissatisfied they were and how many untied strings were left, frankly it left us all a little worried. But as a series finale, I like the fact that they didn’t try to tie up every single plotline, that it leaves you with a sense of things just beginning. And seriously, dude, they must have known on some level it was going to be the last episode ever. I mean, it was sooo sentimental, and with the big bon voyage party and the Emily/Lorelai moment and the Lane and Rory moment. And just the fact that the end mirrors the end of the pilot nearly perfectly…come now. So there it is. And I can actually say that I’ve seen every episode of that show ever filmed. Pathetic? Quite possibly. But I was an addict. And now, perhaps, I can move on.
Wait, I still have the first five seasons on DVD. Who am I fooling? I’ll still be watching those at least once a week.
[edited to correct my crappy, crappy grammar]