Homemade Spicy Lamb Pizza with Cooling Tzatziki Salad

Last night’s episode of The Next Food Network Star was dutifully watched in Lolita’s living room, and (as usual) I compared myself and my skills to those chefs/cooks/(and bloggers!) and wondered whether I could compete in that sort of arena. I decided to take up one of their challenges - to make a pizza that best defined me: a toasted EVOO’d crus<a href="/R34ZSY3M">t toppe</a>d with spiced sautee<a href="/5YGQYH5K">d groun</a>d lamb, nutty goat cheese, briny feta, red onion, garlic and oregano<a href="/Y6MVNCHX">, serve</a>d with a quick tzatziki sauce an<a href="/W5YYKHT2">d sala</a>d.

My lamb was locally harvested from a farm in New Hampshire, according to the <a href="/WK4RC3XV">butcher </a>at Whole Foods. At $6.99/lb, it was an excellent price for an excellent product.

My seasonings replicated my favorite sausage spices: fennel <a href="/FYFCQVPR">seed,</a> rye <a href="/FYFCQVPR">seed,</a> and oregano.

I throw them, along with my black and <a href="/LTSH5D6W">crushed </a>red pepper, into a hot <a href="/HHMRLM85">wok </a>with a glug or two of sizzling EVOO, and I let them toast for a moment to release the <a href="/PMQVQDJ8">flavorful </a>oils inside each bit of spice.

Then I chuck my lamb into the pan, and break it up into small meatball-sized chunks, allowing it to <a href="/D434P8MH">brown </a>and absorb all the punch from my <a href="/FYFCQVPR">seeds </a>and spices. When it’s cooked through, I remove it from the<a href="/XZFHRHHF"> heat</a> and set it aside until I’m ready to spread it on my pizza.

I didn’t see any of the chefs on the show making their own dough, and given my lack of a food processor with a dough hook (and my desire to make this quickly – being a weeknight wondermeal and all), I bought my dough from Whole Foods. It’s a pretty good product, even if it is sometimes over-proofed, resulting in air bubbles and blistering/blackening edges. Today’s dough, however, was great. <a href="/B52FHCF2">I tur</a>n it out of the bag onto my floured counter, then split the lump in half to make m<a href="/B7CH3Q4H">y pizza bas</a>e and some garli<a href="/LTNN8R88">c roll</a>s to go with it.

Using my hands first to form the basic shape, I then <a href="/LTNN8R88">roll </a>out the pizza crust as thinly as possible with my <a href="/LTNN8R88">rolling </a>pin. The<a href="/LTNN8R88"> rolls</a> I form by hand and set onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. My pizza pan has been in my 425° oven for the past 10 minutes, getting nice and hot.

Along with my sausage, thinly <a href="/3JDX2Q84">sliced </a>red onion, and 1/3 of my <a href="/ZG86GNS8">minced </a>garlic (some of which I’ll save to toss with butter for my <a href="/LTNN8R88">rolls,</a> and some of which will go in my tzatziki sauce), I’m going to <a href="/R34ZSY3M">top </a>my pizza with a combination of feta cheese – for salty – and goat cheese – for creamy.

After making sure all my toppings are ready for action, I very quickly remove the pizza pan from the oven, slather some EVOO over the surface, then stretch my pizza crust dough over the surface as best as possible. I drizzle some EVOO over the dough, then spread out my sausage bits, red onion,<a href="/ZG86GNS8"> minced</a> garlic, and cheeses. I shake some black pepper and oregano over the whole thing, before putting the pan into the oven. My oven’s two racks are on t<a href="/R34ZSY3M">he t</a>op two slots — as far from the bottom<a href="/XZFHRHHF">’s heati</a>ng coils as possible — so I place t<a href="/LTNN8R88">he rol</a>ls on t<a href="/R34ZSY3M">he t</a>op one (since they need more room to grown), and my pizza on the bottom. Cook for 15 minutes, or until…

the crust <a href="/B52FHCF2">turns </a>nice and <a href="/D434P8MH">brown,</a> the meat <a href="/XZFHRHHF">heats </a>back through, the EVOO sizzles, and the cheese <a href="/64W3NS5R">melts </a>(which – in the case of feta and goat cheeses – means they fluff up and <a href="/B52FHCF2">turn </a>golden <a href="/D434P8MH">brown </a>at the edges).

I made a quick tzatziki sauce with my <a href="/KXN5X3J8">strained </a>Greek yogurt, my cucumber (which I deseeded, <a href="/DPSVTKVY">salted,</a> and <a href="/6L7QNTJV">chopped)</a>, 1/3 of my <a href="/ZG86GNS8">minced </a>garlic, and <a href="/Z27T5R5G">cracked </a>black pepper. This coolifying condiment, along with some <a href="/QMX3H88P">shredded </a>iceberg lettuce, will <a href="/3GDVR66V">temper </a>the <a href="/XZFHRHHF">heat </a>of my lamb.

My <a href="/LTNN8R88">rolls </a>have been tossed in butter and garlic, and are fluffy on the inside and perfectly crusty on the outside. Mouthfuls of complex spice and gamey sweet meat meeting<a href="/GZFHJC5K"> cooling</a><a href="/R3P5MM3Z"> cream</a> and crisp lettuce over an almost crackery crisp crust makes for a personal pizza experience unlike any other. Clayton and I ended u<a href="/R34ZSY3M">p toppin</a>g ou<a href="/3JDX2Q84">r slice</a>s with the greens an<a href="/R3P5MM3Z">d crea</a>m, so we could enjoy ou<a href="/W5YYKHT2">r sala</a>d and our pizza in each beautiful bite. It took barely an hour to pull this meal together (and that’s with me stopping to take pictures every few minutes), and the ingredients cost less than $20. One could argue that getting delivery would be cheaper and easier, but it would in no way be fresher, and it could never be this delicious. Delivery pizza has its place in dorm rooms and at Superbowl parties, but for a true diner’s dinner, I