Market Report

David Sanfield is the co-owner of Pit-Fire Artisan Pizza. They have three locations around Los Angeles, with a fourth opening soon in Culver City. They use farmers market ingredients on their pizzas. Their winter special is a pumpkin pizza with toasted pepitas, greens and fontina cheese. They sprinkle brown butter for a decadent finish. They sell uncooked pizza dough at their stores.

Pitfire Pumpkin Pizza

Mix together the following three cheeses:

1 oz shredded fontina cheese

1 oz shredded mozzarella

2 Tablespoons Parmesan-Reggiano

1 6-7 oz ball pizza dough* (While we can’t give away our secret dough recipe, here’s a link to a perfectly respectable crust)

1 1/2 oz brown butter

2 oz blanched red chard (or other dark leafy green) squeezed dry and chopped

4 oz well roasted butternut squash, scooped out of skin and cut into 1.5 inch chunks (squash should be rubbed in olive oil, seasoned and sprinkled with fresh sage leaves before roasting)

1 oz toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Drizzle of toasted pumpkin seed oil

Sea salt

Stretch pizza dough of your choice and spread with brown butter. Lay half of the cheese mix. Scatter the Swiss chard and butternut squash evenly. Lay on the other half of the cheese mix. Scatter the pepitas. Drizzle with pumpkin seed oil. Bake on a pizza stone in an oven pre-heated to 500+ for 7-10 minutes or until puffy, golden brown and delicious. Sprinkle with sea salt as needed and eat as hot as you can stand it.

Ernest Miller is a Master preserver who is at the farmers market three Wednesdays a month and at the Hollywood Farmers Market one Sunday per month. He answers questions about canning and preserving. Right now he's making pickled kumquats, kumquat marmalade and grenadine from fresh pomegranates.