Wisconsin and Minnesota bar kitchens · 2010s
Dill pickle
Garlic cream, dill pickle, no tomato in sight
Scale the dough for thisA bar snack that grew a crust. It sounds like a dare and eats like a very good garlic bread, because pickle brine does to a rich cheese pie exactly what a squeeze of lemon does to anything fried. The one non negotiable step is drying the pickles. Sliced dill pickles carry a startling amount of water and a wet pickle pizza is a soup.
The build
- Pat the pickle slices dry between towels and leave them out to air while the oven heats. Twenty minutes is not too long.
- Spread the garlic cream thin.
- Cheese, then the pickles in a single layer with space between them.
- Bacon, if you want it, which most bars do.
After the oven Fresh dill and a grind of pepper. A drizzle of the pickle brine itself if you are committed.
The bake
Bake it until the pickle edges brown a little. A pale pickle tastes raw and pickled; a browned one tastes cooked and savoury.
On top
- Sauce
- Garlic cream: sour cream or creme fraiche beaten with grated garlic, dill and black pepper.
- Cheese
- Mozzarella, with a little sharp white cheddar for the tang.
You got it right when The pickles have curled and darkened at the rim, and the pie smells of garlic rather than vinegar.