By Katie
If you are “in the know” about food then you’ve probably heard of Mozza, Mario Batali’s Los Angeles pizza outpost, or Little Star, San Francisco’s answer to deep dish deliciousness. But what about Gandomak , or Everest or even Pizza Express? Ring a bell?
Probably not. That’s because you have to cross the Atlas Mountains to get to them. They’re in Kabul, Afghanistan, a city where pizza is apparently all the rage. Who knew? I’m particularly tickled by a place called AFC, that’s short for Afghan Fried Chicken. Unlike its American fast food counterpart, AFC has a reputation for a pretty decent slice. Or so I hear.
Since we like to stay on top of the trends, we thought we’d create our own Afghan pizza. Building on the Afghan flat bread (nan) Humaira posted last week, I’ve developed a couple of recipes that bring together the flavors of Afghan cooking with everything that’s good about pizza. Consider it the newest in fusion cuisine: Afghan-Ital.
The first pizza features a pesto using a classic Afghan combination: scallions, cilantro and lemon juice. This is spread over a thin layer of quroot, which is dried yogurt that has been reconstituted in water. It’s very hard to find so the recipe suggests substituting a mixture of feta and yogurt to achieve the rich tanginess of quroot.
The second pie was inspired by a recipe for Turkish pizza I got years ago from cookbook author Joanne Weir. I’ve tinkered with the seasonings, using paprika and coriander in place of cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Feel free to make your own pizza dough in place of the nan, or use store-bought (we won’t tell). Then, the next time you visit a pizzeria in Kabul, you’ll feel right at home.
Afghan Pesto Pizza
This makes enough pesto for one 12-inch pie. You can double or triple the recipe.
1 bunch scallions, white and light greens parts only
1 cup loosely packed cilantro (stems ok, too)
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. olive oil
Big pinch salt
2 tbsp. quroot *
3 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/3 of the nan dough (recipe in the post below), or favorite pizza dough
Heat oven to 500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, set it in the oven to heat up.
Put the scallions, cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until it becomes a smooth, thick paste. If you don’t have a food processor you can do this using a mortar and pestle.
Shape your nan or pizza dough into a thin, 12-inch round pie. Set the dough on a baking sheet or a pizza paddle that is lightly dusted with cornmeal. Spread the quroot (or feta/yogurt mixture) evenly over the dough. Next, spread the pesto on top of the quroot. Distribute the mozzarella evenly over the dough. Put the pizza in the oven either on the pizza stone or baking sheet. Bake until the crust is a deep golden brown, about 10 minutes.
·Quroot is a thick, yogurt-like ingredient that is tricky to find. You can simply leave it out or substitute 1 oz. feta cheese mixed thoroughly with 1 tbsp. plain yogurt.
Pizza taylor swift 129
Afghan Pizza with Lamb Kofta
This makes enough for one 12-inch pizza. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ lb. ground lamb (or beef)
1/4 cup peeled, seeded, diced tomato (canned or fresh)
1 tbsp. tomato paste
¼ tsp. Kosher salt
½ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. ground coriander
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/3 of the nan dough (recipe in the post below), or favorite pizza dough
2 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
1 ½ oz. feta cheese
Heat oven to 500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, set it in the oven to heat up.
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute or two. Add the lamb, tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, paprika, coriander, black pepper and pepper flakes to the pan. Cook for another 15 minutes, breaking up that lamb and stirring from time to time.
Shape your nan or pizza dough into a thin, 12-inch round pie. Set the dough on a baking sheet or a pizza paddle that is lightly dusted with cornmeal. Distribute the lamb evenly over the dough. Lay the mozzarella over the lamb and then sprinkle with the feta cheese. Put the pizza in the oven either on the pizza stone or the baking sheet. Bake until the crust is a deep golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Except where otherwise noted, all content on this blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.