Before we had children, my husband and I ate out no fewer than three times a week. Our evenings didn't start until Seinfeld ended, and it wasn't uncommon for us to have 10 p.m. dinner reservations. We'd spend $300 in an evening, because that's just the kind of thing that irresponsible yuppies living large during the dot-com boom did. I'm not ashamed of the thousands of dollars we threw in the entertainment bucket, because, short of stumbling upon a long lost millionaire father, this kind of lavish lifestyle won't return for another 15 years, four months and 27 days. And that's only if my youngest graduates high school on time.
I love my two chubby-cheeked dumplings very much, but the truth is, the financial responsibilities of parenthood suck. Date night with my husband is now a very different story. Dinner plus gas plus babysitter equals cha-ching! Now, we'll easily blow $190 in just a few hours, and really, was the combination of fancy flatbreads, gelato, so-so service and two glasses of house wine worth it?
Not if I can make those flatbreads at home. Better. Tastier. And much cheaper.
For those of you who can recall high-school economics classes, let's calculate my opportunity cost: For $190 I could have bought each kid a pair of new sneakers, two killer shredded pork burritos from the Burrito Stand, a frozen CPK barbecue chicken pizza, a pair of summer flip-flops for each of us, a quart of pistachio gelato, fresh roasted coffee beans shipped from Caffe Roma in San Francisco, a trip to the library, a giant bottle of Bariani olive oil, a week's supply of organic vegetables from the farmer's market, gummy bear vitamins, two McDonald's Happy Meals, a day pass to Sarasota's Jungle Gardens and a bucket of worms. These are all things that we cherish and make us giggle with delight, things that deserve our hard-earned cash.
Same with making pear and gorgonzola flatbread. Sure, I don't have an inattentive waiter at my beck and call, but the joy of a spontaneous pizza dough sling-fest — especially in the middle of a kitchen filled with kids — is more entertainment than money can buy.
Pear and Gorgonzola Flatbread with Baby Arugula and Shaved Parmesan
Makes 4 large flatbreads
Get fresh pizza dough from your favorite pizzeria or supermarket. If you have a pizza peel and a quick wrist, feel free to use that to shuffle the pizza into the oven. The key to great flatbreads is to stretch the dough thin, use a light hand in toppings and find very fresh ingredients. It's important to preheat your oven and your baking sheet — the hot baking sheet will help cook the dough faster.
1 lb fresh pizza dough
2 pears, sliced thinly
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese
a nice chunk of good quality Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved with vegetable peeler
1 cup baby arugula
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
flour, for dusting
A half hour before you want to bake, preheat your oven and your baking sheet. Crank up your oven to its highest setting (usually most ovens go up to 500F) and insert an inverted baking sheet. Divide dough into four equal pieces; keep the dough covered until ready to use. You'll bake two at a time. Dust dough and work surface with flour. Carefully stretch the dough into a long, thin, oval shape, about 16 by 6 inches. The thinner you can get the dough without tearing, the better. You can use a rolling pin. If the dough is difficult to stretch, let it sit and relax for 10 minutes. Repeat with second piece of dough. Remove the hot baking sheet from oven, and set your flatbreads on top, side by side. Work quickly and carefully. Brush top of dough with olive oil and layer pears and gorgonzola on top. Bake for 7-10 minutes until top and bottom of flatbread is golden brown. Remove and repeat for remaining two flatbreads. Top with baby arugula and shaved parmesan.
Jaden Hair blogs at steamykitchen.com.
This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2008.