All aboard! Time to catch our train to Paris!

Go on a journey with me.

Imagine this, it’s a gorgeous day in August, and you are walking the world famous champs-eylsees…  

Taking in all the beauty of what seems like a dream. Suddenly you feel a bit of a grumble in the tummy. The morning croissant from the patisserie around the corner of the Hotel you are staying in, has fueled you as long as it can.

So you look across the street from all the hustle and bustle of designer shopping, and there it is, a beautiful patio with the iconic Parisian bistro chairs. It’s perfect. Across the street you run with your partner hand in hand.

Greeted by a tall handsome local, you are seated in the middle of the patio and immediately offered wine. I mean it’s only 1pm on a Tuesday but hey we are on European time right? OUI!

Yes, yes I will have a bottle. (yeah I said bottle) To the table comes a waiter in the iconic striped shirt we see in the movies in France, and in his hand is a beautiful bottle of Rose wine.

POP goes the top!

Look at that color, so delicious too.

Now as you glance at the menu so many options but a light pizza sticks out and sounds like the perfect accompaniment to the wine.

A fresh made dough, topped with a tomato sauce, ham, mushrooms, fromager d’Affinois cheese, topped with arugula and oregano.

It’s even more lovely than we thought it would be and oh my so delicious!

Ah, yes that was my personal vacation. Thanks for joining me, and that pizza, I still dream about it.

If I close my eyes long enough I can still smell the air, hear the crowd of shoppers, and taste that incredible Parisian food!

I had been thinking about this pie for quite a while and then it hit me, hey I should make my own version here at home in Pacific Northwest. So I did!

Starting with my favorite dough.

You can find that recipe here.  JENS Pizza Dough

A favorite pizza sauce, fresh mushrooms, (I used button mushrooms) black forest ham sliced from the deli at the grocery store, baby arugula, parmesan cheese, and dried oregano.

Now the cheese is very important as it is what makes this taste just like I remembered that beautiful day. It is called Fromager d’Affinois.

Fromager d’Affinois is a French double-cream soft cheese made from cow’s milk. It is produced by the Fromagerie Guilloteau company. Fromager d’Affinois is similar to Brie in production, appearance, and flavor. -wiki

It is mild in flavor but has a beautiful melt and is a must for this pie.

 

Ok now let’s get this vacation started!