Funemployment Feast: Arugula Pizza Blanca and Hood Strawberries with Stratiacella Cream

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Portland's unemployment rate has more than doubled in the past year, making it significantly higher than the national average. They even refer to P-town as a "drizzly city along the Willamette River." Wow, sounds appealing. So, what's the deal? Why are people inexplicably, uncontrollably drawn to this jobless, sunless doldrums? Why?!?

Because it's the best goddam city in the country, that's why! We're all feeling the pinch here, but one of the reasons that Portland rules is that you can still have a high time livin' the good life here as an unemployed, cafe-hopping, iPod-shuffling twenty-something. And so, this meal is a nod to those of us who won't be dining at Higgins this month, but still want to feel a little fancy...

Here is the complete ingredient list for tonight's dinner:

-pre-made pizza dough
-fresh mozzarella ovoline
-ricotta salata
-organic arugula
-truffle oil*
-sea salt
-Oregon Hood strawberries
-whipping cream
-sugar
-vanilla
-dark chocolate

That includes dinner AND dessert. Not bad.

I tried pizza dough from Pastaworks on Hawthorne for the first time, and like everything else that I've purchased there, it didn't disappoint. For a whopping $1.50, you can try it, too. I also picked up a fresh mozzarella ovoline for $2 and a beautiful little wedge of ricotta salata for $1.50. Oh, and I grabbed enough organic arugula to top the whole pizza. I think I spent about $6 all together.

Plus, it's incredibly easy. Roll out pizza dough and brush with truffle oil. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella and shaved ricotta salata. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 450 F for about 9 minutes, or until the crust is bubbly and brown. Top with arugula right before serving. Et voilà.

Dessert is just as easy. Go to the corner of NE 60th and Halsey and grab a basket of local Hood strawberries from the dude with the stand for just $2. Then pop over to QFC for a half pint of whipping cream for about $1 and a bag of dark chocolate chips for about $3. Clean the berries and just let them sit there and do their thing. Oregon strawberries are amazing like that. They need no embellishment and are nothing like any other strawberry you've ever had. So, pour your whipping cream in a mixing bowl, add about a tbsp or less of sugar and a splash of vanilla, and whip it (good) until soft peaks form. Melt chocolate chips using a double boiler or the microwave. Scoop some of the strawberries into a bowl. Top with a dollop of your homemade whipped cream. Swirl a fork through the melted chocolate and drizzle it back and forth over the cream so it makes pretty streaks. Serve.

So, that was about $6 at Pastaworks, $2 at the strawberry stand, and $4 at QFC. I'm not going to use the sickeningly exhausted mass media hook terms like "recession-buster" or "stimulus package," but please note that that's a pretty damn fabulous meal for a very small price.

Consider this my ode to the unemployed masses of Portland. Only in Stumptown could you start your day sipping locally roasted coffee for a couple bucks while using free WiFi, have a free snack at the New Seasons sample table, catch up on your reading at the Central Library, stop and smell the roses in Ladd's Addition, slam a dollar Pabst tallboy at any number of happy hours, and still afford a gourmet meal like this one. Screw you, economy!

Serve this feast with the Dead's High Time and remember:

Nothing's for certain
It could always go wrong
Come in when it's raining
Go on out when it's gone
We could have us a high time
Living the good life
Well I know.

*Note: the truffle oil will be your one expensive purchase, but a little goes a LONG way so you'll have it forever. Plus, once you taste it, you'll agree that it is totally worth it. Trust me.

As for health, you'll be happy to know that strawberries' unique phenol content makes them a heart-protective fruit, an anti-cancer fruit, and an anti-inflammatory fruit, all rolled into one. Also, though arugula looks like a lettuce of sorts, it is actually a cruciferous vegetable (like broccoli), and is similarly rich in cancer-preventing phytonutrients.

P.S. I've been out of town, so my apologies for the lapse in updates. Vacation post coming soon!