Yesterday I saw the first sailboat of the season. From a distance, the white triangle of its sail appeared against the bright blue of the sky; I stood watching, my heart picking up its happy rhythm, as the polished hull emerged into the mouth of the bay, moving slowly through the channel where the land narrows at the entrance to the town marina. The white sail looked so jaunty and cheerful: waving and flapping lightly as the ropes clanked and thwacked against the mast. After the dark, cold winter (METAPHORICALLY AND LITERALLY OBVIOUSLY), it seemed to be beckoning to us, calling out “Hello bright things! Picnics ahead! Sunny days and mint lemonade and bike rides in the warm evenings!”.
And then, this morning, I woke to the tittering of birdsong outside my bedroom window—a sure harbinger of spring. The birds are so noisy in the backyard, as if they’ve all just gotten back from tropical vacations in far-flung places and are just catching up with each other, stories tumbling out of their beaks in pretty trills, inquiring after each others’ sisters and sons and mothers.
The farm store sent out their weekly email with their current offerings: French breakfast radishes and spring garlic and corned beef brisket. Soon their outdoor food truck will open and people will come in droves on the weekends, lining up to order egg sandwiches oozing with cheddar and smoked bluefish salad on brioche buns and spicy beef kofta wraps with homemade salsa rosa. Little kids will run tipsily around the lawn and over to the pasture where the sheep roam and up to the fence that surrounds the sprawling farm garden—its tidy rows of shishito peppers and basil and lettuces looking like a miniature mosaic in greens and browns.
These early March days, cold and wet and fresh and green, remind me of spring breaks spent in South Carolina growing up: the smell of the spice factory hanging in the humid air, the gray drifts of Spanish moss draped like smoke off the limbs of the live oak trees.
I almost got a sunburn yesterday sitting outside on the front stoop while the baby napped, my eyes closed and my head tilted up towards the sun. Two neighbors stopped to chat while walking their dogs, and by the time I convinced myself to walk back into the house, a faint constellation of freckles was already appearing on the pale skin of my upper arm.
I, myself, am glad for today. And all the days before and all the ones to come. Not just because it’s warm and hopeful, but because I am alive and breathing and about to take a nice walk into town and there are plenty of episodes of The Split left to watch (I am in love with this show) and I discovered the Beach Boys Pandora station on Sonos and the kitchen smells like the quiche crust I have in the oven and salad pizza exists (why eat them separately when you could eat them together?). And all of that would be true, even if it were a cold and snowy and dark day.
Salad Pizza
Makes two medium-to-large pizzas
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 cups (283g) warm water, divided
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups all-purpose flour (360g), plus more as needed
1 cup (227g) ricotta cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (113g) fresh mozzarella cheese, torn/chopped roughly
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
6 cups mixed greens, loosely packed (give or take as you wish)
1/2 head radicchio, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
In a large heatproof bowl, combine the yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and the sugar. Stir gently to dissolve the yeast. Let sit until frothy and puffy-looking (about 5 minutes).
To the bowl, add the rest of the warm water, salt, olive oil, and flour. Stir until you have a soft dough. If your dough is too sticky to handle, add a little bit of flour (up to 1/2 cup) until the dough is smooth and very soft but not wet or sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead, for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. (You can also use a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook here.)
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let rise until almost doubled (about 1 hour).
Once risen, divide the dough into two equal pieces (you can also divide it into 4 pieces for smaller pizzas). Refrigerate the dough pieces until ready to use (they'll keep up to 3 days, or longer if frozen).
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450° F. Roll each pice of dough out to about 1/2-inch thickness (you can adjust the thickness based on how thin and crisp you like your crust). Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet (or use a preheated pizza stone sprinkled with semolina if you have one). If you have trouble rolling and stretching out the dough, let it rest for 5 or 10 minutes at room temperature and then try again.
In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over both pieces of the prepared pizza dough, leaving about an inch on the sides.
Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan over the top of the ricotta.
Bake the pizzas for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling.
While the pizza bakes, make the salad. In a large bowl, add the mixed greens, radicchio, and sun-dried tomatoes. Drizzle with the balsamic vinaigrette and toss together.
Remove the pizza from the oven. Immediately heap all of the salad over the pizza. Eat!