Sunday, August 17, 2008
Pesto Pizza
Tonight I made a pizza with basil pesto, grilled chicken, Roma tomatoes, and mozzarella and this combination was a winner! I should have tried this sooner, since pesto incorporates so many things I love on pizza - basil, garlic, cheese, and olive oil! It was rather time intensive, but certainly worthwhile - and I have leftovers!
1. Make pizza dough. For the recipe, see my pizza archive.
2. While your dough is rising, make the pesto. In a food processor, combine: 2 cups basil leaves, 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of pine nuts, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic (as you like it), and 1/2 cup of olive oil. This yielded a good deal of pesto, so after setting aside what I needed for the pizza, I divided the remainder in two resealable bags and threw them in freezer - I'm putting away for winter.
3. Cook the chicken - I grilled mine on the George Foreman, but it cooked it for only six minutes (instead of the usual nine) since it would continue to cook on the pizza.
4. Slice tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and chicken. Before you ask if the tomatoes were fresh from my backyard and bring tears to my eyes, the answer is Absolutely Not. Something disturbing is happening with my tomato plant - it started out strong throughout June and July, but the tomatoes were smaller than I expected. I think this is because I have it growing in a pot, so the roots cannot expand as much and produce large fruit. I am fine with this, and I had been enjoying a couple of delicious, even if dwarfed, tomatoes per week. When I left for my vacation to Charleston, there were about five tomatoes in the midst of ripening. When I returned, they were gone!! They are without a doubt gone, and there is not even a shriveled bloom left to show. The only conclusion is that someone picked my tomatoes in my absence. I inquired about this with my roommate, who indicated that she had watered daily, as requested, and had noticed the overnight disappearance as well. This pattern has repeated itself since my return, as tomatoes begin to ripen on the plant, and one day they are gone. A neighbor is undeniably stealing my veggies, which really takes me back to a time I don't want to remember - the Charcoal Grill Incident of '06.
5. Roll the pizza dough out into a crust and top with pesto, chicken, tomatoes, and cheese.
6. Bake it - I cooked mine on the pizza stone at 425 degrees for 12 minutes. Times differ slightly is you cook it on a sheet pan instead of pizza stone.
1. Make pizza dough. For the recipe, see my pizza archive.
2. While your dough is rising, make the pesto. In a food processor, combine: 2 cups basil leaves, 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of pine nuts, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic (as you like it), and 1/2 cup of olive oil. This yielded a good deal of pesto, so after setting aside what I needed for the pizza, I divided the remainder in two resealable bags and threw them in freezer - I'm putting away for winter.
3. Cook the chicken - I grilled mine on the George Foreman, but it cooked it for only six minutes (instead of the usual nine) since it would continue to cook on the pizza.
4. Slice tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and chicken. Before you ask if the tomatoes were fresh from my backyard and bring tears to my eyes, the answer is Absolutely Not. Something disturbing is happening with my tomato plant - it started out strong throughout June and July, but the tomatoes were smaller than I expected. I think this is because I have it growing in a pot, so the roots cannot expand as much and produce large fruit. I am fine with this, and I had been enjoying a couple of delicious, even if dwarfed, tomatoes per week. When I left for my vacation to Charleston, there were about five tomatoes in the midst of ripening. When I returned, they were gone!! They are without a doubt gone, and there is not even a shriveled bloom left to show. The only conclusion is that someone picked my tomatoes in my absence. I inquired about this with my roommate, who indicated that she had watered daily, as requested, and had noticed the overnight disappearance as well. This pattern has repeated itself since my return, as tomatoes begin to ripen on the plant, and one day they are gone. A neighbor is undeniably stealing my veggies, which really takes me back to a time I don't want to remember - the Charcoal Grill Incident of '06.
5. Roll the pizza dough out into a crust and top with pesto, chicken, tomatoes, and cheese.
6. Bake it - I cooked mine on the pizza stone at 425 degrees for 12 minutes. Times differ slightly is you cook it on a sheet pan instead of pizza stone.
Labels: Recipe
// posted by niltiac @ 8:59 PM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]