Pesto Pizza

oh-so-easy pesto

I love this time of year!  Ripe, juicy tomatoes bursting off the vine, sweeter-than-candy sweet corn being sold on the honor system from yard-stands sprinkled throughout the countryside, endless varieties of eggplant and peppers and an over-abundance of fresh herbs.  Like basil!  I recently came home from a trip to a friend's house with bags and bags of basil.  She had given me sweet Italian basil, Thai basil, pepper basil, and Ruben basil.  What to do with all that basil?

Of course, the obvious answer is make pesto.  Which I did.  I made a big batch and tossed it with bow tie pasta and spicy Italian sausage.  It was yummy!  The next day I made another patch and slathered it on top of individual pizzas.  Oh!  So good!  Today, I'm going to use up all the rest of the basil and make pesto for the freezer so I can continue enjoying the taste of summer even when the winter snow is on the ground!

My idea for the pizzas was inspired by a bottle of Carmen's Habitual Habanero that I always have sitting on the counter next to the stove.  This stuff is soooo good!  Of course, you can make this pizza without the Carmen's oil, but you will have no idea what you are missing!!!  You can read about the company and order a bottle for yourself by clicking here.

For my pizza, I started out by spreading a generous layer of pesto on top of a bread square.

Next, I sprinkled on a layer of sliced red onions, covered that with thin slices of fresh, juicy tomatoes, then drizzled on the Carmen's Habitual Habanero.  (This stuff packs a wallop and will leave your lips tingling happily!)

I sprinkled the tomatoes with torn chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese.

After baking at 425 for 10 minutes, my pizza came out of the oven looking like this:

Here is my simple recipe for pesto.

Ingredients:


1/4 cup pine nuts
2 large cloves garlic
2 cups tightly packed basil
2/3 cups EVOO (olive oil)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino cheese

Method:


1.  Throw the pine nuts, garlic, and basil into the bowl of a small food processor (I used a hand blender) and process until finely chopped.

2.  Blend in the olive oil and then the cheese.

3.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grilled Eggplant Pizza

I'm wondering why in the world it has taken me so long to try pizza on the grill?  I love to use my grill and I love pizza (if it's done right!)  Flipping through magazines yesterday morning, I came across a recipe for grilled eggplant pizza.  The recipe seemed pretty simple, calling for just pizza dough, sauce, grilled eggplant, and cheese.  I might have made things a bit more complicated by making my own dough and sauce and adding caramelized onions, but the results were amazing!  It got rave reviews from both my husband and son.  Now that I've seen how easy this is, I'll surely be making it more often!

Since my son doesn't like eggplant, I left it off the first pizza.  I used pre-sliced, fresh mozzarella cheese and found that the slices were a bit too thick to melt nicely by the time the crust was done.  So on the second pizza, I tore the mozzarella into smaller chunks and it worked out much better.  I'm thinking the next time I make this, I might try goat cheese.

A quick word about grilling the pizzas.  I found that it works best if you let the grill get very hot, but then turn the flame down under the pizza when you put it on.  My grill has four burners.  I turned all four up on high and closed the lid.  I let the grill heat up to about 300 degrees.  Then, I turned the left two burners all the way down to the lowest setting, leaving the right two burners on high, and grilled my pizza on the left side.  This method worked out great.  You will probably have to experiment with your own grill to see what works for you.

Here is my recipe for grilled eggplant pizza, with recipes for the dough and sauce given below.  Happy eating!!


Ingredients:

Pizza dough (recipe below, or use your own)
2 cups pizza sauce (recipe below, or use your own)
1 large eggplant
1/2 cup (more or less) of olive oil
kosher salt
1 cup caramelized onions
handful of fresh basil leaves
mozzarella cheese (fresh or grated)
olive oil (for brushing the dough)

Method:

1.  Wash the eggplant and then slice it into rounds, about 3/4 inch thick.  Toss with olive oil sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.

2.  Grill eggplant on hot grill just until soft and buttery, turning once.

3.  Stretch or roll pizza dough into two large oval disks.  Place each disk on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly oiled.

4.  Brush olive oil onto one side of the dough and place on grill (see above).  The dough will begin to puff almost immediately.  Close the lid and cook for a few minutes, until the underside begins to speckle with dark brown.

5.  Remove disk to baking sheet, uncooked side up.  Brush new side with olive oil.  Turn disk over and arrange sauce, caramelized onions, torn basil leaves, grilled eggplant, and cheese on pizza.

6.  Return pizza to grill.  Close lid and cook until cheese melts and underside is cooked and speckled with dark brown spots.

7.  Repeat with other disk.

Eggplant slices grilling (I also made a grilled salad - recipe another day!)

Pizza dough, ready for the grill

Pizza on the grill!

Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package active dry years
1 cup warm water
pinch white sugar
2 t kosher salt
1 T olive oil
3 cups (or slightly more) all-purpose flour

Method:

1.  In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and sprinkle in sugar.  Let proof for 10 -15 minutes, or until frothy.

2.  Mix in salt, olive oil and flour.  Mix until dough pulls away from sides of bowl.  Add more flour if too sticky.

3.  Remove dough and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes)

4.  Return dough to well oiled bowl.  Cover with damp towel and let rise until doubled in volume (about one hour.)

5.  Punch dough down.  Cover and let rise again until doubled in volume (about one hour.)

Dough is now ready to be shaped!


Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pounds Roma tomatoes
olive oil (about 4 T total)
kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T fresh oregano leaves
1 T tomato paste
splash of red wine (optional)

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Cut tomatoes in half and toss with about 2 T olive oil.  Place, cut side up, on a large baking sheet (I lined my sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easy.)    Sprinkle with oregano and kosher salt.

3.  Roast tomatoes until wilted and browned in spots (about 50 minutes.)

4.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Then, puree in a food processor.

5.  Heat remaining 2 T olive oil in pan.  Add garlic and cook until beginning to color.  Add sauce and tomato paste.  Swirl a pour of wine around in the processor bowl to remove all the sauce and dump into the pan.  Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Adjust to taste with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar, if needed.