So I think this is going to be a quick one today. Why? You might be asking. Well, Brian and I are moving again, just across town, but still, we are on the move again. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, moving is a royal pain. It’s like a blister that just popped on your heel when you still have a mile to walk. (That’s how much I like it!) This year I can blame all of the difficulties on James Beard and Craig Claiborne. Let me make that statement a bit more explicit, I blame it on their books.

In Niantic, Connecticut there is a funky, used book store, in a ramshackle house and several out-houses, called The Book Barn. It may not be the best book store ever, but it is one of the most charming. I find that the trip holds all of the eager anticipation of a good scavenger hunt– I’m not sure what I’ll find, but surely it will be a treasure. Each time I’ve gone to The Book Barn I’ve come home with cookbooks by those two departed masters, Beard and Claiborne. And since I have lived in Connecticut, my cookbook collection, which already had considerable heft, has grown exponentially. Beard on Bread, and Beard on Pasta too? Got it. They’re sitting next to collections of year ’73 and ’74 of Claiborne’s writings and recipes. As I pack up box upon box of heavy books, I curse (though secretly adore), my ever-growing collection of cookbooks.

Okay… That was a rather lengthy diversion, and now for the main event– Leek and Egg Pizza.

Pizza crust embellished with sautéed leek, Parmesan cheese, and a scrumptious cracked egg, sound familiar? That’s because it is, but it goes to show, what’s good once, is often good twice. You can make this pizza with the dough of your choosing. Simply sauté some cleaned, sliced leeks in olive oil, seasoned with a bit of red pepper flake, salt and pepper, until softened. Douse the stretched pizza crust in olive oil, and then spread the leeks on top. Sprinkle with some freshly grated Parmesan, and bake as directed. (Mine baked in a very hot, 475 degree oven.) When the pizza is just about ready, remove from the oven and crack one or two eggs on top. Then put the pizza back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes, just until the white is set.

With some more freshly cracked black pepper, you have a lovely flat-bread-like pizza in minutes. Gooshy, with the hardly-set yolk, and mellow with the slippery white, this pizza has that oniony bite without being overpowering. Yum.

Now I really must go, this wasn’t such a quick post after all! Next time, from my new home…