While Nicole is off gallivanting around Italy, I’m here at home wishing the freshly fallen 50cm of snow in my driveway would just frig off. So we’ve got an Italian-inspired East Coast classic for you today! East Coast Honey Garlic Fingers are an Atlantic Canadian must-try.
Basically, Honey Garlic Fingers are like an appetizer we eat before pizza. I personally prefer to skip the pizza altogether and go crazy on the garlic fingers. Some places serve them with donair sauce, a sweet creamy dipping sauce that is freaking delicious! Unfortunately, we haven’t perfected that particular recipe yet.
Also, Wikipedia claims that they are sometimes served with marinara sauce? I have never in my life heard of that and frankly it sounds a bit silly to me…just eat pizza if you want marinara! Who wants cold marinara? So you have to heat up the dipping sauce? Too much work! So, we went with the third option – a generous drizzle of honey. It’s the easiest too, so that’s a bonus!
In a nod to Italian cuisine, we used Nicole’s awesome Beer Pizza dough with 00 flour as the base here, and it worked perfectly. We also used a super fresh garlic bulb – it’s barely being cooked so be sure it’s fresh! If it’s sprouted, it will definitely taste a bit bitter. Trust us. Buy a new bulb (or use garlic powder if it’s unavailable/of questionable freshness). Then it’s topped with regular pizza mozzarella and a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano (autentico!) and a generous drizzle of honey. Delizioso!
East Coast Honey Garlic Fingers
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- 3 large cloves garlic crushed or minced very finely
- 1 1/2 cups pizza mozzarella
- 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano
- 1/2 batch beer pizza dough recipe below
Instructions
- Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat oven to 425F. Flour a working surface and roll the dough out into a 12" diameter. If you have one, sprinkle a pizza paddle with cornmeal, transfer dough to the paddle.
- Stir the garlic into the butter and mix. Spread evenly over the dough leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge for the crust. Top with the mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano.
- Once the oven is heated, remove the stone and carefully transfer the pizza to the stone. Cook for around 12 minutes. It's done once the crust is bubbled up and browned. Lift to check that the bottom has browned as well.
- Once slightly cooled, drizzle with honey, slice into fingers, and enjoy!!
Beer Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups + extra Type "00" Flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup Beer warmed
- 2 tsp Instant Yeast
- 1 tsp Honey
- 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
- Warm the beer in a measuring cup until just warm. You do not want it hot or it will kill the yeast. Add the yeast and honey to the beer and mix together. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the olive oil to the mixture.
- Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the liquid to the well. Using a fork or your fingers, drag the flour from the outer sides into the liquid in the center, until all is incorporated. Kneed the dough with your hands until it is soft and pliable, adding more flour if too sticky. I added an extra 2 tbsp or so.
- Oil the bowl and cover the dough with a damp dish towel or plastic wrap, leaving in a warm draft free spot, such as an oven, for 1 hour, or until double in size.
- Once ready, punch down the dough, removing the air, and divide dough in half. You can either use it at this stage or place it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. You can also freeze the dough like this for future use.
