Piadine with Caesar Salad with Roasted Garlic Paste

Description

Yield: 1 piadine and 1 cup of roasted garlic paste

Ingredients

• 1 lb pizza dough, or (you can buy it at your favorite pizza parlor) or 1 lb frozen pizza dough (thawed and prepared according to pkg directions)
• 12 cups loosely packed torn romaine lettuce (about 2 heads)
• favorite Caesar salad dressing (we used Newmans's Own Light Caesar salad dressing)
• ½ cup olive oil
• salt, to taste
• freshly ground coarse black pepper, to taste
• ½ cup roasted garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves or rosemary (we used the rosemary)
• 6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish

Roasted garlic paste

• 1 lb whole head of garlic
• ½ cup pure olive oil
• gray salt
• freshly ground coarse black pepper

Directions

Roasted garlic paste

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Peel the outermost layers of skin off the heads of garlic.
3. Cut off the top one-third of the heads to open the cloves. Save the small pieces of garlic for another use.
4. Put the heads, cut sides up, in a small baking dish and pour the olive oil over them.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Cover tightly, place in the oven, and roast until about three-fourths cooked, about 45 minutes.
7. Uncover and return to the oven until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins and brown, about 15 minutes.
8. Let cool.
9. When cool enough to handle easily, squeeze the roasted garlic into a small bowl.
10. Press against the skins very well to get out all the sweet roasted garlic you can.
11. Add the oil from baking dish and mix well until a paste forms.
12. Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week.

Piadine

1. Preheat a grill to high.
2. Put the lettuce in a bowl. Pour the dressing over and toss well.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal balls.
4. On a floured board, stretch and roll the dough into thin discs with a rolling pin.
5. The dough may also be stretched by hand, but rolling will give you a thinner crust.
6. Coat the rolled out dough with olive oil and place, oiled side down, on a very hot grill.
7. This can be done indoors on a cast-iron stovetop grill pan that has been preheated over medium-medium high.
8. When you start to see bubbles on the surface of the dough, turn it over.
9. It should be slightly browned on the bottom.
10. Brush each round with a generous tablespoon of the garlic paste and sprinkle with the thyme.
11. Remove from the grill with tongs and top with the caesar salad.
12. Grate Parmesan cheese on top, fold in half, and eat.