Pizza bread. My mother made pizza bread with black olives, onions, tomato
sauce and a truckload of cheddar and Monterrey Jack. It remains a comfort
food, for me, like no other. My mother would make it when a bunch of young people would come over, which was often considering I have four brothers, a dad who had every teen age boy who ever had a motorcycle hanging out in his barn, and as I have said before, a million cousins. Pizza bread is easy to whip up, filling and a crowd pleaser, a grand slam type of hit food. A food to serve when a party happens without your knowing it is going to happen.
Sacha, my teenage son, left yesterday for California. In the twenty four hours that he has been gone I have noticed three things:
1) There is food in the fridge.
2) The laundry basket is not full.
3) A void, a hole, a silence… the lack of presence… my shadow.
Knowing that he is in California has made me miss my family even more- if that is possible.
In times of melancholy comfort food is a soothing blanket. Pizza Bread came to mind. I do not follow my mother's recipe, mainly because I could not find chopped olives, and more so cheddar cheese in a country that has a variety of cheeses more than days in a year…. in all honesty, I am a terrible recipe follower, creative adventure whets my appetite.
To make Pizza Bread, take a loaf of French Bread and cut it in half, lengthwise. Then toast it lightly in the oven for a few minutes, when you take it out brush olive oil over its toasted crust, giving it a golden glow.
In a mixer, chop one large red pepper, three small zucchini, one yellow onion, one chunky mozzarella, two cloves of garlic and thyme to spice it Italian like.
When the vegetables are chopped but not pureed, add a cup of tomato sauce, half of a cup of olive oil and spread a generous, thick, layer on the sliced French bread.
Then layer the top with chucks of goat cheese, but any cheese will do if you are not a fan of goat cheese.
Then pop it into the oven and grill it for a few minutes, or until the cheese is a melted, gooey, lush of desired happiness. As you can read I have a personal relationship with food.. I will never be a skinny chick. But last night I was filled full of memories of Willows while creating a few new ones with friends in our garden.
What is your comfort food?
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