[1] Green Goddess Spring Pizza, which can be enjoyed year-round, of course (photo © Broma Bakery | DeLallo).

[2] Pea shoots (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[3] Spring peas, also called English peas and garden peas (photo © John Woodhouse | Woodhouse Chocolate).

[4] A white pizza topped with peas, pea shoots and shaved pecorino (photo © King Arthur Flour).

Celebrate spring with a green pizza: green from spring veggies and pesto sauce instead of marinara.

It’s topped with a fresh green salad. Year-round, we enjoy fresh arugula and basil atop a plain marinara pizza, so we knew we’d like this one.

The recipe was developed by Sarah of Broma Bakery, and sent to us by DeLallo, of whose products she’s a fan (so are we).

If you love to bake—or want a reason to start—sign up for the Broma Bakery Blog.
 
 
RECIPE #1: GREEN GODDESS SPRING PIZZA

This recipe can be made year-round, except for the pea shoots which are only available in the March-April time frame.

If you can find them (at a specialty produce store or farmers market), top the pizza with pea shoots and tendrils.

Pea shoots are the edible leaves of the spring peas (a.k.a. English peas, garden peas)†.

You can substitute microgreens.

Sarah used the DeLallo Pizza Dough Kit, but you can substitute prepared dough.

Ingredients For 2 Ten-Inch Pizzas

 
For The Salad Topping

 
Recipe Variations

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to its highest temperature. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. ROLL the pizza dough into two 10-inch rounds. Set them on the parchment-covered cookie sheets, and brush a bit of olive oil around the edges (this helps deliver a crispy edge).

3. SPREAD the pesto all over the dough, except for leaving a bare 1-inch edge. Top with the mozzarella, scallions and zucchini.

4. BAKE for 8-10 minutes, until the crust is golden and the mozzarella is bubbling. Meanwhile…

5. PREPARE the salad topping. When you are almost ready to remove the pizzas from the oven, toss the watercress and snap peas in the Green Goddess dressing.

6. REMOVE the pizzas from the oven, top with the salad and serve.
 
 
>>> CHECK OUT THE HISTORY OF GREEN GODDESS DRESSING <<<
 
 
>>> MORE GREEN PIZZA RECIPES <<<
 
 
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*Pea pods take the 60-70 days to mature, but pea shoots, the first sprouting of the plant, can be harvested within 2 to 4 weeks. When pea shoots are harvested, a percentage may regrow into a second crop; but pea pods will not grow on the plants: It’s either shoots or peas.

We recently dined at a wonderfully creative new restaurant in New York City, Frevo.

A cheese course is typically served before dessert, or instead of it. Quite a few connoisseurs prefer to end dinner with cheese instead of something sweet.

Our cheese course consisted of Comte cheese, shaved into pappardelle-size ribbons (fettuccine size works, too), drizzled with honey and topped with a frico of Comte.

Alas, we don’t have a photo of the ribbons of cheese drizzled with honey. They’re hidden under the fricos in photo #1.

You can use any cheese that can be grated into ribbons. These are typically any semi-hard cheese: Cheddar, Colby, Comte, Gouda, Manchego, Provolone, and others†.

If you enjoy fine cheese, don’t wait until your next dinner party. Start pairing sweet condiments with cheese ASAP. In the words of Nike, just do it!

You don’t have to grate it or top it with a frico.
 
 
WHAT’S A FRICO?

A frico (FREE-co) is a delicate, lacy baked cheese thin that originated in Italy*.

The only ingredient in frico is cheese unless you want to add herbs or spices. The grated cheese is scooped onto a cookie sheet and baked until crisp.

You can bake your own, with your cheese of choice and a grater and an oven. Cheese is the only ingredient unless you want to add herbs or spices.

Or, purchase them from Parm Crisps, plain or with different flavors, including Jalapeño and Sesame (photo #5).

But the reason we created this article is not for the frico, but for what Frevo did with it.

It was perhaps the most delightful cheese course we’ve ever had.

They drizzled honey over it, and added a side of honey mousse (photo #1), leading to today’s tip:
 
 
PAIRING CHEESE WITH SWEET CONDIMENTS

The idea is pretty conventional outside of the U.S., although some cheeseboard ingredient lists recommend it.

And in the American South, hosts have long topped a block of cream cheese with preserves or pepper jelly.

So we begin with a selection of sweet condiments that you can serve with your next cheese plate.

 
The condiments can be added as a drizzle over the cheese, a dollop on the plate, a circle of polka dots near the edge of the plate, or your own creative approach.
 
 
OUR FAVORITE PAIRINGS

If these seem bizarre to you, they are time-honored pairings among cheesemongers and connoisseurs. Try it before you judge it!

Why do they work? The flavor combinations are salty plus sweet, mild plus savory, sharp plus fruity.

 
But the wonderful thing about pairing cheese with sweet condiments is that you can mix and match until you find your own heavenly cheese course.
 
 
>>> THE NIBBLE’S GUIDE TO CHEESE CONDIMENTS <<<

[1] Our delightful cheese course at Frevo in New York City. Shaved ribbons of cheese are mounded and drizzled with honey, then topped with the fricos. The side condiment is honey mousse (photo © Frevo Restaurant | New York City).

[2] Frevo has a special device to make long ribbons, but we used our Microplane ribbon grater and made short ones like these from Cheddar, which we mounded on each plate (photo © Microplane).

[3] Black cherry confit with Manchego cheese. Shave the Manchego into ribbons (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[4] Honey is a delicious condiment pairing with most cheeses. If you don’t have a honey drizzler a.k.a. dipper like the one in the photo, freestyle with an implement you do have. Savannah Bee sells a honey blended specifically for cheese (photo © Savannah Bee).

[5] Parm Crisps are bite-size fricos (photo © Parm Crisps).

*In the Italian region of Friuli, frico refers to a dish of heated cheese and other ingredients, such as potatoes. It is baked in a round pan, is soft, and served in slices (like pizza). There is also a thin, crunchy version, similar to the frico described above, which is used as an appetizer or a garnish. While the first version has been made for centuries,the crunchy version is more recent.

The cheeses in the Semi-Hard category include a broad range of textures, from semi-firm to very firm; and from cheeses that are only weeks old to those aged up to several months or more. Because these cheeses contain less moisture than the soft and soft-ripened types, they hold their shape much better. Examples include young Asiago, Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Fontinella, aged Gouda, Manchego, Provolone and Queso Blanco. The difference between semi-hard and semi-soft cheese is one of moisture: Semi-soft cheese contains more than 45% water, while semi-hard cheeses contain 30% to 45%. A cheese can start as semi-soft, then move to semi-hard via aging, which evaporates the moisture.

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] Bake your own Irish soda bread with this recipe. Photo © The Baker Chick.

[2] Turn a loaf of Irish soda bread into French toast or bread pudding. This recipe from McCormick has both raisins and caraway seeds. (photo © McCormick).

[3] Irish soda French toast, for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dessert. The recipe is at right (photo © The Shannon Rose).

[4] Irish soda bread pudding. The recipe is at right (photo © The Shannon Rose).

[5] Some Irish soda bread recipes have caraway seeds, some have raisins, some have both and some have neither! These caraway beauties are from Silk Road Spices (photo © Silk Road Spices).

EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to health concerns, most of us won’t be running out today to pick up Irish soda bread. We’d planned these two recipes that use Irish soda bread to make dessert.

We’re sending them anyway, with hopes that they’ll be of use—if not now, then next year.
 
 
We love Irish soda bread so much, that we buy extra loaves to slice and freeze, to extend our enjoyment for a month or two longer.

But if you end up with too much soda bread and not enough space in the freezer, here are two ways to use them the next day or the day after (the bread can be stale, but not rock-hard).

These recipes are courtesy of Shannon Rose Irish Pub, with two locations in New Jersey.
 
 
RECIPE #1: IRISH SODA BREAD DESSERT FRENCH TOAST

Do you really need to top French toast with caramel sauce and powdered sugar?

If you’re serving it for dessert, sure.

For breakfast, brunch or lunch, conventional maple syrup is the way to go.

Ingredients Per Serving

 
For The Batter

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 450°F.

2. WHISK all the batter ingredients together. Heat the butter in a pan.

3. DIP each slice of soda bread into the batter and place into the pan. Cook each side for 3 minutes, until the color is golden brown.

4. REMOVE from the pan and place on a sheet into a 450-degree oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and slice each piece in half (at an angle like a sandwich, if the slices allow it).

5. PLATE the French toast and top with strawberries, caramel and powdered sugar.
 
 
RECIPE #2: IRISH SODA BREAD PUDDING

This recipe requires preparation a day (or evening) in advance.

Ingredients For 6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. GREASE a 9″ square pan or a large rectangular pan (e.g. 11″ x 7″) and set aside.

2. CUT the soda bread into 1″ cubes.

3. WHISK the other ingredients together in a mixing bowl and pour the mixture over the the soda bread. Toss.

4. POUR the mixture into the greased pan, cover with foil and let sit overnight.

5. BAKE: Preheat the oven to 300°F and bake the covered pan for 40 minutes. Then turn the oven up to 350°F, remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

6. SERVE hot or cold.
 
 
>>> CHECK OUT THE HISTORY OF IRISH SODA BREAD <<<

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.