Salmon and Potato Pizzas

I wonder what it says about my personality that my two bookmarks with the most pages bookmarked are 'pasta' and 'brownies'.

I also wonder what it says about my personality that today, at one of the best markets in Australia (in my opinion, and I have been to a few markets), I bought no things, just food. Dutch pancakes, so light and fluffy, drowned in maple syrup. Sugar roasted almonds, so sweet and crunchy. Two bagels, claimed to be as good as those in New York (this was claimed by an actual New Yorker buying them in front of me). Raw honey, made by a woman who kept bees in her backyard. Mango chutney, homemade with Indian spices for a tang. Greek yoghurt, made with half goats cheese yoghurt, by a woman who bred the goats and made the yoghurt at her home.

In my defence, I did not eat all of this in one day - obviously the honey, chutney, almonds and one bagel is leftover. Obviously.

Now this pizza here; it is refreshingly easy, wholesome and wonderfully sweet. There is a delicious crunchiness to the dish, as the base is thin and nutty. The potatoes are soft, yet slightly crunchy, while the cheese melts over the pizza. The salmon is light, refreshing and sweet, contrasting with the hard taste of the base and potato.

I cannot tell you how much I want you to make this. It is absolutely wonderful. It is even roommate approved, and I had one roommate never eat salmon until I made this.

Level of Difficulty: Easy – slicing the potatoes is the hardest part of this.

Average Cost: $$$ - damn you, salmon. Of course the cost depends on the type of salmon you get. If you buy real, fresh salmon, it is incredibly costly. If you are like me and buy frozen salmon which requires you to cook the salmon in the microwave for a few minutes, it’s much more affordable. The salmon I buy involves no cooking, but trust me, it doesn’t taste as bad as it sounds.

Menu Options: You can change the cheese, you can add other types of cheese, more oil, change the type of base, etc. Like most of my recipes, this is very simple, not so much a recipe as more of a throw-together kind of meal, and is definitely something I recommend trying this way first. Like all my recipes, it can be changed easily and to your taste. This will, of course, change the nutritional values.

Adapted from: Taste.com

Makes 4 pizzas.

What you need:

-          4 wholemeal pita breads

-          Canola oil spray (other ones will work too)

-          4 -6 potatoes, depending on size and how many potatoes you want on your pizzas

-          3 tsp dried thyme

-          3 tsp dried rosemary

-          1 cup grated low-fat mozzarella cheese

-          2 – 4 salmon fillets, depending on size (I used 3, and mine were average sized fillets)

-          2 tbsp sour cream

-          1 tbsp  lemon juice

-          4 tsp oregano

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place the pita breads on a tray and spray them each with canola oil.

Thinly slice the potatoes and arrange them on the pita breads so the slices overlap or closely touch.

Divide the thyme and rosemary over the four pizzas. Be sure to spread the herbs evenly over each individual pizza.

Divide the cheese over the pizza. Ensure the cheese covers all the potato.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Check frequently from 10 minutes on, to make sure the cheese and pita bread doesn’t burn, but you want to make sure the potatoes are cooked through. Remove from oven when cheese is golden and bubbly, potatoes are tender and base is crisp and not burnt.

Meanwhile, cook the salmon fillets over medium heat in a frypan. Season with salt and lemon and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until the salmon is cooked through and tender. I personally buy packaged salmon which requires 2 – 3 minutes in the microwave to cook. You can do either method – this is how I cook salmon if I buy real salmon, but I don’t do that often (okay, so I’ve only done it once), and this is how I cook frozen salmon. The point is cook the salmon however you want or however instructed to by the package.

Using a fork, flake the cooked salmon into chunks.

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and lemon juice and mix until well combined.

Remove the pizzas from the oven and divide the salmon chunks equally between the pizzas. There should be a lot of salmon on each pizza. Also divide the sour cream mix between the pizzas. Finally, top each pizza with a teaspoon of oregano, spread over the surface.

Serve hot.