Originally published on Monday, 21st April 2008

Calamari Pizza with Lemon Aioli

Makes 2 pizzas

When I was living in San Francisco there was a wonderful restaurant called ‘Lulu ’. I loved watching the beautiful food coming out of their wood fired oven and the carousel of roast chickens and pork and scented with rosemary that turned around on their rotisserie.

When I told my mother about this wonderful pizza that I had there, she had the audacity to phone up the restaurant and ask for the recipe. I was horrified and amazed at her courage. It’s only now that I realize how flattering it must be for any cook to have someone enjoy their food so much that they want to try and make it again at home.

Ingredients

1 recipe pizza dough
3-4 squid, cleaned and sliced into rings
200 grams of Fontina cheese
1 red chili, finely minced
a handful fresh basil leaves
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Lemon Aioli

2 egg yolks
3 cloves garlic, crushed
juice and zest of 1 lemon
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

Instructions

To make the aioli, place the egg yolks in a food processor with the salt and garlic. With the food processor running, pour in the olive oil in a slow steady stream and process until you have a thickened, mayonnaise-like texture. Add the lemon juice and stir well.

The aioli should be runny enough to drizzle on the pizza rather than to glob in big dollops. Add a bit more lemon juice to thin if necessary. Keep some at room temperature for using on the pizza and chill the rest to serve with grilled fish, roasted vegetables or dollop some on steamed summer beans with minced anchovies.

Preheat the oven to 250 C, and place the baking tray you intend to use in the oven to heat up. Divide the dough into 2 balls and roll out thinly. Working with one large or two individual pizzas at a time, place the rolled out dough on a sheet of parchment paper and top evenly with the squid rings, fontina, and chili. Remove the pre-heated baking tray from the oven and carefully place the parchment with pizza on top. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until the crust is golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and using a metal spoon, drizzle with the aioli and season with sea salt and pepper. Scatter with the basil leaves and serve.

Jennifer Klinec from Eat Drink Talk has kindly agreed to provide Urban Junkies readers with mouthwatering recipes and foodtips.

To learn more, classes at Eat Drink Talk are held in Jennifer's beautiful loft in Clerkenwell, packed with information and useful tips, and you'll get to sample all of the delicious dishes prepared during class.

by JK

In collaboration with Eat Drink Talk