Weihnachtsmarkt and Knäckerbröd Pizza

Georgeanne

My friend and I decided to travel to Berlin in early December. Unbeknownst to us, this was the time of the brilliant German Weihnachtsmarkt, Wintermarkt, or Christkindlmarkt for all y’all in Bavaria.  My friend and I were floored by the array of covered stalls with local merchants peddling their wares, the omnipresent melodies of live brass quintets and, most of all, by the abundance of delicious German winter foodstuffs.

candy stand. delicious.

At night, after a failed attempt at last-minute opera tickets, we stumbled across the brilliant market right outside of the Schauspeilhaus that had denied us entry. It was cold and we were hungry, and this place was flooded with people, laughter and the succulent blend of aromas radiating from the vendor’s stalls. So whatever, opera.

Not having any clue as to where to begin gorging, we picked the stall that had the biggest line. We ended up with this pizza-type thing that we named “the shoe,” since it looks like the sole of a shoe with stuff on top (note: does not taste like shoe.) The shoe had an oven-baked crust with a cream sauce, topped with fresh scallions and bacon. It was delicious.

Bear with me, I use the term “pizza” loosely and liberally. This shoe pizza reminds me of pizza that I had at a friend’s house this past summer, made on Swedish Knäckerbröd, a round, crispy rye bread with a little hole in the middle. Kind of like an edible record.

Leksands brand Knäckerbröd

Knäckerbröd Pizza with shoe pizza influence

1 piece of large Knäckerbröd

For white pizza sauce- I use an amalgamation (no mercury involved) of a bunch of white sauce recipes. I usually cook by eye so these amounts are an approximation of what I normally use.

2 tbsp butter

½ cup cream (I use heavy cream)

½ cup of of grated parmesan or romano cheese

½ cup ricotta cheese (again, I use the fattiest possible option)

A couple cloves of garlic, crushed (or more, it’s up to you)

Dash of salt and pepper

7-10 scallions, chopped (or however many you want)

1 cup of crumbled bacon (or however much you want)

Heat the oven to 350˚

In a frying pan, heat the butter and garlic over medium heat. When the garlic is fragrant but not brown—after about 30 seconds or a minute—stir in the cream and ricotta.  After about two minutes stir in the parmesan or romano cheese. Add the salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Spread the sauce over the Knäckerbröd and top it with the bacon and scallions bits.

On a large baking tray, heat the Knäckerbröd pizza in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Let it cool, break it into pieces, et mangez.