Pizza with Fennel, Olives and Anchovies

It's always a good time for pizza. I like to make it for dinner on Sunday and then take leftovers to work for lunch during the week. It's easy to make and I can top it with whatever I have on hand. The dough was already made - it was the last portion from my last batch of no-knead bread. I topped it with olives left from from Top It Off With Tapenade, fennel, onions, garlic and anchovies. This is the batch of dough to which I added some toasted crushed hazelnuts. The slightly nutty taste and extra bit of crunch was perfect. Nuts, olives, fennel, whole wheat dough and cheese were a great combination. It was crunchy, salty, chewy, earthy.

Here is what I used

about 1 1/2 lb. portion of my last batch of no-knead bread
about 1 1/2 cups grated parmiggiano reggiano
about 1 cup pitted black, oil-cured olives
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
1/2 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced
3-4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
I pre-heated the oven and my baking stone to about 425. I took the portion of dough, sprinkled it with a bit of flour, and gently flattened it into my rustic pizza shape. I let it rest on my pizza peel which I had dusted liberally with cornmeal. While the dough was resting, I sauteed the garlic, onion, and fennel in a couple tablespoons of olive oil until they were soft.
I topped the dough with the sauteed veggies, olives and cheese. A few turns of the pepper mill and then I slid that baby off the peel onto the stone. I baked it until the cheese bubbled and browned a bit. And I always have to turn baking items half way through the process because our oven is much hotter in the back. In no time we had pizza!