cologne, germany.

after our time in amsterdam, we took the train over to cologne for a couple of days. 

we chose cologne because we wanted to take a train somewhere and cologne happened to be pretty close to amsterdam while also a near major airport in dusseldorf. we would come to have the beeeest flights of our life on our business class journey from dusseldorf > london > nyc. 

cologne is a pretty small and quaint german city. we were there just after the new year, but christmastime was still in full charming force.

we thought two days was just enough time to get the lay of the land in cologne and check it out.

the cathedral here was insane! you walk outside of the train station and THERE it is. it took over 600 years to build! very coooool.

^ our airbnb where i watched 'seinfeld' and 'the holiday' in german. lol. just wasn't the saaaame.

^ the rhine river.

it's pretty hard to pronounce cologne the way germans do which is spelled "köln" and said like "Koooouln." anyhoo we were just waltzing around saying "koooln." "kuuuln." "koouln." over and over and it still never seemed right haha.

we walked through a sculpture park and also stumbled on the cologne zoo. kind of a random thing to do but we enjoyed it.

the zoo is smack dab in the center of a regular neighborhood, which is funny. 

hi giraffe! hi german neighbor!

^ the german-est of german eats. taters, brats, cabbage, and kölsch beer, which reigns from cologne.

^ this photo was shared on design sponge's instagram and a couple different artists saw it online and sent me their versions that they drew or painted! i was shocked. sooo cooool and flattering. the internet is wild.

drinking kölsch in cologne is a fun experience. i think they only do it like this in köln because it's the birthplace of kölsch!

you get a small 0.2 liter glass of kölsch and the waiter marks a tally on your coaster that is essentially your beer tab. once your glass is empty, they come by with a big round carrier of beer and replace your drink until you cover your glass with a coaster to signify that you're done drinking. and they just keep 'em coming!

we became friends with this funny guy james who was traveling from england and chatted it up for hours. our tally was getting pretty up there but it was a lot of fun. the pub was also called 'peter's' and we brought some of these kölsch glasses home.

glad we got a little taste of germany on our trip. i lived in germany with my family when i was a child and this was my first time back in this area. i'm dying to go back to austria sometime and spend time in hallstat.. gorgeouuuus. i wish we'd had time during this trip to take the hogwarts express all the way to austria... but next time!

qp

lamb, pesto, burrata & mint pizza.

URGENT:

i've been yim yum yammering about this pizza for weeks now. IT IS SO WILDLY DELICIOUS.

the flavors are totally insane and perfectly spring!!!!

we made this thang 3 times within a week and then spiraled off and continued a binge of various pizzas for dayyyyys. sometimes that just happens somehow....you realize you've eaten pizza every day for like 7 days straight and you're like...how did i get here? cool. but yikes. 

(so in other words, this week has been salad central.)

but i'm not kidding this pizza recipe is REAL GOOD and i'm REAL PROUD of it.

we've been making our homemade pizzas with a pizza stone which i really believe is a game-changer for the crust. BUT it's been terrifying and high stress times when it comes to shimmying the pizza dough off the parchment paper and onto the fiery hot stone in the oven. so we got real serious about it and bought a pizza peel and now we're selling pizzas out of our back door. 

(nahhh... but WE SHOULD BE...)

so first ya got a very simple and easy dough (bread flour makes it much betta than all-purpose in my opinion), a mint-pesto hybrid, peppery crumbly lamb, fresh creamy burrata cheese, zippy red onion slivers, topped with fresh goat cheese, tons of fresh mint leaves, and some red chili flakes. 

shoutout costco who sells the most amazing pesto! last summer, we took this VERY good chewy baguette, sliced in half with olive oil drizzled, threw it on the grill til golden and slathered it in costco pesto and holy moses that was one of the best things i've ever eaten.

you can also make it from scratch, if you like.

but the point is that you add extra fresh mint to the pesto and pulse it together! for that extra layer of mint flavorrrrr. actually i hope you're not freaked out by the mint on this 'zaw? its good. so veryyyy goooooood. i told ya we were having a moment with fresh mint lately next to these fab fresh rolls. 

please make this pizza and go nuts over it like we did!

Lamb, Pesto, Burrata & Mint Pizza

Makes One 12-inch pizza

Active Time: 30 minutes, Total Minimum Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough: (Adapted from the Half Baked Harvest Cookbook!)

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast

• 1 TB. honey

• 1 cup bread flour

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 TB. extra virgin olive oil

Mint Pesto:

• 1/2 cup prepared pesto (store bought or homemade)

• 1 TB extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 oz. fresh mint (1 package // about 1/3 cup)

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 TB fresh lemon juice

Lamb:

• 1/3 lb. ground lamb

• 1 TB. extra virgin olive oil

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)

• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Toppings:

• 2-3 fresh burrata balls

• 1/3 cup red onion slices

• 1/2 oz. fresh mint (1 package // 1/3 cup)

• goat cheese crumbles

• red chili flakes

Instructions-

For the dough, add warm water, honey, and yeast to a medium bowl and whisk. Let sit for about 10 minutes until it gets a bit foamy. Add the bread flour and salt, mix and use your hands to knead the dough together for a few minutes. Add a sprinkle of flour if it's too sticky.

Use the olive oil to grease another large bowl and transfer the dough to this bowl, turning the dough to coat in oil. Cover with a warm damp towel and let rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until about doubled in size. You can make the dough in advance and freeze it in plastic wrap if you need to.

If using a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven as hot as you can while you prepare the pizza, about 500 degrees F. 

After the dough is risen, punch it down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. If you're using a baking sheet and not a pizza stone, you can turn out the dough onto a lightly greased & floured baking sheet. Roll out as thin as you can, about 1/4 inch thick. 

Heat oven to 450 degrees F whether you're using a pizza stone or a baking sheet. If you're using a pizza stone, the oven should be be BLAZING HOT from preheating the stone, so be careful. We even bought a pizza peel for this step. 

For the mint pesto, add all ingredients to a small food processor and pulse until incorporated.

For the lamb, heat the ground lamb in olive oil and minced garlic in a pan over medium heat. Add salt and lots of black pepper to taste, and a dash of red chili flakes. Let it get dark on each side before tossing the meat. I preferred it crumbly and peppery and almost blackened, but cook as you desire. 

Spread the pesto over the dough, about an inch from the edge. Add the crumbled lamb.

If baking on a baking sheet - add the remaining toppings now and bake the pizza in the oven at 450 for about 12-15 minutes until lightly browned on top.

If baking on a pizza stone - CAREFULLY shimmy the pizza dough with pesto & lamb crumbles off the parchment paper and onto the hot pizza stone sprinkled in a bit of corn meal. Bake for 5 minutes to solidify the crust before adding the wet burrata. Open the oven door and pull the rack out just enough so you can break the burrata balls on top and sprinkle on the red onion slices. Bake for 5 more minutes. Carefully remove pizza from oven onto a large cutting board using an oven-safe tool. 

Sprinkle crumbles of goat cheese on top, along with torn fresh mint, and a few dashes of red chili flakes. Slice and serve immediately! Enjoy within 2 days. 

qp