{sweet potato pizza} with garlic, basil, gorgonzola, and hazelnuts

{sweet potato pizza} with garlic, basil, gorgonzola, and hazelnuts

recipe by me

1 medium-large sweet potato

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons chicken stock

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1/4 cup hazelnuts toasted and chopped

2-3 leaves basil, chiffonade

gorgonzola, to taste

1/2 cup parmesan

salt and cracked pepper to taste

pizza dough {i use my artisan bread recipe for neapolitan pizza dough} this crust was made with part whole wheat and flax seed meal.

preheat oven to 500 degrees

heat olive oil in a small saucepan; peel garlic cloves and cut into very thin slices, and add to the oil. cook garlic on low heat until fragrant and tender (around 10 minutes). peel sweet potato and cook in boiling water until tender. put in a bowl with chicken stock and maple syrup and a pinch of salt, and mash. set aside.

break off about 1/2 lb {around a softball sized ball} of dough from the artisan bread dough. you will be able to adjust this, depending on how you like your crust, or how big you want your pizza to be {if making a bigger pizza, break off grapefruit sized ball, and double toppings}.

on a floured surface, roll out dough, to desired thickness. don't be afraid to dust with flour in this process, this dough is a wet dough and can handle the flour... i also love the way it looks when it is baked and still has a dusting of flour on the crust. this particular pizza i rolled to about medium thickness, and slightly smaller than a dinner plate. but i've also rolled it very thin and once baked, it is wonderfully crisp.

here is more on rolling out the dough {neapolitan pizza dough recipe}

Flatten the dough into a 1/8-inch-thick round with your hands and a rolling pin on a wooden board. Dust with flour to keep the dough from sticking. (A little sticking can help overcome the dough’s re sis tance to stretching, though, so don’t overuse flour.) You also can let the partially rolled dough relax for a few minutes to allow further rolling. Stretching by hand may help, followed by additional rolling. Place the rolled- out dough onto a liberally cornmeal- covered pizza peel.

sprinkle a generous amount of cornmeal on a baking sheet and transfer pizza dough.

spread sweet potato over the crust as you would pizza sauce. top with garlic, drizzling some of the fragrant olive oil over the pizza. crumble gorgonzola, and sprinkle with parmesan. season with salt and cracked pepper. top with basil chiffonade and bake at 500 degrees for around 10 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden. slice and top with toasted hazelnuts, and a bit more parmesan.

*plate by kate fisher {my favorite local potter}.