Thatsaagreat pizza!

Ever since I left Paris I've been dying to find another slice of delicious saag pizza (Oh how I long for my Pink Flamingo Pizza) I've been begging my parents to show me how to make saag properly so I could make it at home, but they always thought it was a silly idea. Alas, the beautiful day has come and my tummy is oh so satisfied with my beloved saag pizza! My parents were really stoked tonight since I rarely please them and even more so rarely please them by eating Indian food.

Saag Paneer Pizza

Tonight, mom and I teamed up. Pizza girl plus Indian mom yields amazing Indian fusion pizza!!! This recipe for saag paneer is stand alone - she's made this recipe for years - and you can easily prepare it and serve it with naan as eaten traditionally. Or you can have it my way, slathered in melted cheese.

• Canola oil
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1/2 tsp plus more Laal mirch
• Garlic cloves
• Fresh ginger
• 2 10 oz frozen spinach packages, thawed
• 2 T butter
• Ready made paneer, cut into cubes (soak in water for ten minutes to soften)
• Ghee
• Asafoetida (in India known as Hing)
  
• 2 8oz fresh balls of mozzarella

Makes 2 14-inch pizzas


Put a little oil in a medium sized pot on medium heat. Add half tsp turmeric, laal Mirch, garlic, and ginger. Fry a half cup chopped onion and stir occasionally. Then add the spinach and mix well.

Allow it to simmer, and ensure no more frozen pieces are present. Add in the butter and stir. Mix the contents of the pot with a hand blender and blend until smooth. Add one cup Indian yoghurt and stir well. Add the paneer and mix.

Separately prepare the Tarka. Heat ghee and add 5 little shakes of asafetida powder, pinch of laal mirch, just for a minute!

Pour Tarka immediately in. Mom scoops up the spinach afterward and then pours it back in so that all the the tarka mjxture absorbed and the yummy oil doesnt stay in the other pan.

Add a pinch of cumin to the spinach mixture. Stir. Remove from heat!

On a floured surface, roll out dough into a rectangle or circle depending on your pizza pans. I prefer to cook on either a pan with holes to allow the crust to cook well or a pre-heated pizza stone. Otherwise especially with a saag pizza you may have some soggy saag pizza on your hands. Place crust in pan.

Grate or slice the mozzarella depending on your preference.

Brush dough with olive oil with a pastry brush. Cook at 425F for 8- 10 minute you want dough cooked. Don't worry, the crust will get crisp/golden when you put it back in with the toppings.

Remove the crust and spread palak paneer on both crusts in a manner that you would put tomato sauce.

Sprinkle cheese evenly on both pizzas. Cook for ten minutes and then broil for a few minutes. Keep a watchful eye so the pizza doesn't burn! My dad prefers a more golden look so I broil for a full 3 minutes.

Romeo's

Romeo's

1500 Barton Springs Rd.

Meal: Margherita Pizza ($5.00)

Romeo's has found her Juliet, and it's my stomach.

Before heading out to the annual Zilker Park Musical, my friends and I stopped at Romeo's for an early dinner. The Romeo's website proudly boasts their $5 at 5 special, which includes a variety of wines, pizzas, and appetizers all for $5 each on weekdays from 3 to 6pm.

For the quality and amount of food and great service, this $5 deal is a must! With a special like this, one might worry that the level of service must drop at happy hour, but this was not the case. We found our waiter to be attentive and amusing. I had been to Romeo's once before. At night the atmosphere truly changes. During the day, expect a much more casual ambience, but equally good service.

As for our meal, each of us ordered a different pizza off the Happy Hour Menu: Margherita, Tomato Artichoke, Chipotle Chicken, and Four Cheese. I won't say the pizzas were on par with La Taverna or North, but for $5, I was more than satisfied. None of the girls at the table could manage to finish an entire pizza in one sitting, (Can't say the same for good, old Joe who couldn't risk his masculinity by leaving his plate unpolished) but our leftovers were perfect for sharing with our friends who we met up with to watch the musical a while later.

As opposed to the awful crème brûlée we tried at Chez-Zee, this dessert prepared at Romeo's delighted me at my original visit. I expect I'll be coming back to Romeo's soon to try out other items on the menu!