Curried Fennel & Grapefruit Guacamole
Grapefruit guacamole (with avocado, grapefruit, red onion, cilantro, ghost pepper hot sauce), taleggio cheese, toasted walnuts, oven-roasted fennel (with curry powder, paprika & salt), grapefruit, fennel fronds
Recipe
Ingredients: 1 ball of pizza dough olive oil flour for dusting
semolina flour for the pizza stone salt & pepper 2 ripe avocados, roughly chopped 2 grapefruit, peeled and segmented (membranes removed) ¼ small red onion, minced 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced hotsauce to taste (we used the tiniest drop—maybe 1/8 teaspoon—of Dave’s Gourmet Ghost Pepper Jolokia Sauce. Do not overdo it, this stuff is no joke.) 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (save some of the fronds for garnishing) handful of walnuts hunk of taleggio (alternatively, I think halloumi would work really well here, fried or grilled) dash of paprika dash of curry powder
Directions: Preheat your oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with foil and brush lightly with olive oil. When you slice the fennel, keep the sections together as best as you can and lay them out flat on the baking sheet.
Brush the fennel with olive oil and sprinkle lightly and evenly with paprika, curry powder and salt. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until they begin to get soft. When they are finished, increase the oven temperature to 550° F.
Meanwhile, you can toast the walnuts. Heat a little bit of oil in a pan over medium heat, and throw the nuts in, toasting for a few minutes. Take them out when they start to smell fragrant, but before they blacken.
Next, prepare the guacamole. In a bowl, combine the minced onion, segments from one grapefruit, avocado, cilantro, and about a teaspoon of salt. Mash the mixture but let some of the chunks remain.
Now you can prepare your dough, using the instructions here. When it has baked for a minute, take it out and brush it lightly with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of the guacamole over the pizza, followed by slices of the taleggio.
You don’t want to use too much cheese here, or it will become too creamy in texture with the guacamole. Our original intention was to fry halloumi, but there’s a shortage of that cheese in Pennsylvania right now, so we went with taleggio instead. It still works, but you should use it sparingly.
Next add the fennel slices, still keeping the sections together. Finish it off with the walnuts and chunks of the remaining grapefruit, and then put it in the oven. Bake until the cheese has melted and the crust is golden brown. Take it out, sprinkle with fennel fronds, and enjoy!