It was a quintessential Fall afternoon, sunny and clear with a soft breeze and cool, crisp air. The perfect afternoon to snuggle up with a book. The perfect prelude to a relaxing evening home with Mom. The perfect start to an even better weekend ahead.

On my agenda was to create an entry for Project Food Blog Challenge Number Five. The fact that I am able to say this amazes me, as the competition continues to showcase some truly talented people. I am honored beyond belief to be here, and grateful for the opportunity to celebrate food and community with new friends.

Those of you who have shown your support deserve more than a simple thank you. You deserve a dozen cookies hand-delivered to each of your doorsteps. If I had the means to do this, you can bet I would be there tomorrow at 4 o’clock sharp, just as you’re saying to yourself, You know, I could really use a cookie right about now. Oh, if only I could.

Onward to pizza. I am no longer a fan of the greasy, pepperoni-laden hunks of dough with way too much cheese and lackluster sauce that most every kid has at their lazer-tag birthday party. While that used to be great in a pinch, my diet has evolved and my tastes have since changed. I’ve always loved flatbread, and this was my starting point for Friday night’s pizzas.

I knew I wanted potatoes to appear somewhere, so this was my next building block. Potatoes and rosemary are great together, and once this thought crossed my mind, I knew I had the stuffing for my first pizza. On top, nutty Gruyere cheese spills over the edge and embeds arugula and toasted walnuts.

For pizza number two, I wanted to include a very delicious pesto-artichoke-olive tapenade introduced to me about one year ago by my friend a fellow blogger, The Chopped Onion. I love pesto on pizza. I guess I love pesto on anything (like a spoon, or my finger), but when smeared on light and crispy pizza, something miraculous happens. With the pesto, artichoke and olive tapenade on top, my chosen filling was a feta cheese and sun-dried tomato spread. At first, this may seem to you like a lot of flavors colliding into one another. Trust me though, they work beautifully.

The dough: I used 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour along with the remaining quantity of all-purpose flour, and I would not recommend attempting a larger amount of whole-wheat. Unless, of course, you know what you’re doing more so than I, which in all honesty is very possible. Nonetheless, the resulting dough was dense and doughy where I expected it to be, and developed a light crust on the outside, which I love. I might play around with flours next time, adding semolina or chickpea flour for variations in taste, texture and workability.

Served alongside an arugula salad with fresh pears from the tree, figs, toasted walnuts and avocado, these unique pizza pies were a lovely way to start the weekend and a great centerpiece for an evening of quality time with someone I love.

Potato & Rosemary-Stuffed Flatbread Pizza with Gruyere, Arugula & Toasted Walnuts

Ingredients for dough: 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 1/4 cup water, room temperature Ingredients for pizza: 1 small white potato, scrubbed and peeled 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary, roughly chopped 1 shallot, diced about 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese or 5-6 thin slices 1/4 cup arugula 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped Instructions for dough: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. You may have to add more flour on occasion to combat the stickiness. Cover with a tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Divide in half, loosely wrap each in plastic wrap and let rest on work surface for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare pizza ingredients. Instructions for pizza: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potato and thinly slice half of it into rounds no more than 1/8-inch thick. Toss rounds in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Toast walnuts in a small skillet over medium flame and set aside. When the dough is ready, place one half on a floured work surface and roll into as much  of a square shape as possible, about 8-10 inches in each direction. Layer potato rounds onto half of the square, leaving 1/2 inch at the edge. Top with chopped rosemary and diced shallot. Fold the free half of dough over and pinch the edges to seal. If you want, you can fold the pizza in half again and press down to flatten. In a dry nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the pizza for 4 minutes on one side, until lightly browned in spots. Flip over and cook another 3 minutes, until lightly toasted on the other side. Transfer to a baking sheet and top with gruyere, arugula, then toasted walnuts. Place in the oven for 8 minutes, to warm through and melt the cheese. Let cool slightly and slice to serve.

Feta & Sun-Dried Tomato-Stuffed Pizza with Pesto, Olive & Artichoke Tapenade

Ingredients: 1/2 quantity whole-wheat dough, recipe above 1/2 block feta cheese 6 sun-dried tomato halves 1/2 container or 1/2 recipe basil pesto 1 small jar pitted kalamata olives 1 small can or jar artichoke hearts Instructions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a food processor, pulse feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes until well combined. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Clean the food processor, then add pesto, olives and artichoke hearts. Pulse until thoroughly combined but not too smooth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Roll out the other half of the dough into an 8 to 10-inch square, once again. On half of the square, spread the feta cheese mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edge. Fold the other half of dough over the top, pinching the edges to seal. You can fold the pizza in half again if you wish, then lightly roll to flatten. In a dry nonstick skillet, heat pizza for 4 minutes, until lightly browned. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes, until lightly browned on the other side. Transfer to a baking sheet and spread with pesto tapenade. Bake for 8 minutes to heat through and melt the filling. Remove, let cool slightly, and slice to serve.

The best part about these pizzas is that they are even better the next day. I reheated slices of the potato & Gruyere and I enjoyed the sun-dried tomato & pesto tapenade pizza straight from the fridge. With a crisp apple, I was set for lunch.

If you make these yourself, experiment with flavors. I'd love to try pears instead of potatoes and rosemary, and pesto with sliced tomatoes instead of tapenade. No longer do I play lazer-tag for my birthday, and no longer will I settle for delivery disasters. Growing up never tasted so good.