Cranberry Pizza

by Patrick OConnell "The Inn at Little Washington" Cookbook, 1996 This is a perfect dessert for entertaining for the holidays because it can be completely assembled in advance. We are using cranberries, but I usually use rhubarb. My grandmother inspired the dish because she had a rhubarb patch, and I took a creative license to create the pizza dessert. For the crust, in the restaurant we use a flaky croissant dough for the crust, but any pie dough or frozen puff pastry will work. We are using 1 10" disc puff pastry. Roll crust out onto any baking sheet. Find a large bowl and put it upside down on the dough. Carve around it with a knife in order to make a perfect round circle. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or up to one day. You can do all this the day before if needed. In a medium sauce pan, combine 1 bag fresh cranberries, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Stir occasionally, bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Cook until cranberries burst and the mixture reminds you of cranberry jam. This will take approximately 8 minutes. Cool sauce until it reaches room temperature. Take the refrigerated dough and spread it out on a baking sheet that is has non-stick cooking spray. Use a ladle spoon to spread the cranberry puree evenly on to the dough as you would a tomato sauce on pizza dough. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven in the lower half of your stove. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until the pastry crust is a nice golden brown color, crisp and flaky. Make sure it is not doughy. For toppings, I have sliced strawberries into thin slices which are the "pepperoni," unshelled pistachios are my "green olives," diced pitted prunes are my "black olives," and the finale is to coat the pizza with grated white chocolate as the "parmesan cheese." To serve, sprinkle plates with cinnamon. Slice the pizza into slices with a pizza cutter and serve immediately. It is delicious when served warm. Serve with ice cream, either vanilla, eggnog, or your favorite flavor. You can also make small pizzas, if you want an individual pizzas for your guests. Posted to Bakery-Shoppe Digest V1 #471 by Shelley Sparks <ssparks@mailbox.arn.net> on Dec 27, 1997