Magazine Monday: Focaccia and Smoked Salmon and the movie "Men Who Stare At Goats"

Thank you Deb from Kahakai Kitchen for following my blog!

I can only take credit for the appetizer part of this meal. My generous son brought home a huge piece of smoked salmon with apricot glaze for dinner. How cool is that? Good stuff and easy for me cause...I only fussed with the focaccia.

Behold the appetizer.........




How easy is this, you may ask? If you have homemade pizza dough on hand or if you have a husband who will use any old excuse to hop on his Road King to ride to Publix (or any grocery store) to grab pizza dough from the bakery section.....it's super easy.

Recipe and ingredients follow............




Roll out the pizza dough and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.......



Slice the cherry tomatoes, garlic and onions or shallots. Add 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, mix gently. Then spread onto a baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes.




Shred fresh mozzarella cheese and place on the baked pizza dough. Top this with the cherry tomato mixture. Shred up some prosciutto and add to this.



It's now assembled and ready for a quick bake..
.....

Fresh and hot and gooey right outada oven.......




Now here is the beautiful smoked salmon with an apricot glaze.....


Wish I could take credit, cause it looks good and my goodness...it was delicious.

In my urgency to prepare a plate of toasted bagel, a slab of salmon, cream cheese and pizza/focaccia....I neglected to get a snap of the train wreck that was laden plate.

So..there it is. It was good. The movie we watched afterwards was not as good.

Men Who Stare at Goats. So. Weird. And I like some off the wall stuff like Coen Brothers movies and Harry Potter and Star Trek stuff.....but this. I can't even explain it. We weren't impressed.

Ok, here is your recipe - please do try it!

Cherry Tomato and Prosciutto Focaccia


Ingredients.......

16 ounces pizza dough
2 + tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
1 small carton cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large shallot or a medium onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
A sprinkle of pepper
8 ounces of mozzarella cheese, shredded
About 3 ounces of prosciutto, thinly sliced and torn in shreds
2 tablespoons fresh basil, sliced

OPTIONAL: 2 cups baby arugula

Heat oven to 425 F; Roll and stretch dough into a large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 425F for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and set aside. REDUCE oven temperature to 325F.

While the pizza dough is baking, do THIS:

Slice up tomatoes and toss them in a bowl with shallots or onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Spread the tomato mixture on a baking sheet in an even layer and roast for 20 minutes.

OPTIONAL: When you remove the tomatoes from oven gently stir in 2 cups baby arugula.

Sprinkle a cup of the mozzarella over pizza crust. Top with tomato mixture and distribute prosciutto over the tomatoes. Top with the rest of the Mozzarella.

Bake at 325F for 15 minutes. Cool, sprinkle with basil…then cut and enjoy.

I sent this to CreamPuffs in Venice for her Magazine Monday series. Hop over and visit the Creampuff and see what other folks submitted.

Verdict.....This recipe is a keeper. It goes in the plastic sleeve and into the notebook. I recommend this recipe…great taste, easy to put together and makes a wonderful appetizer. Please let me know if you prepare it!

Cheers!