{Meatless Monday}
Hello, hello!! I have got a SUPER yummy one for you today! This one is off the Pioneer Woman's site. I love it when she posts vegetarian ideas because I always know they will be amazingly delicious like everything else she cooks.
She actually grills the vegetables and therefore calls her recipe Grilled Vegetable Pizza. But I don't have a grill...so I just ROAST! ; ) I also made a few other minor changes to the recipe.
I have fallen in love with roasted vegetables! They are so flavorful...the roasting just really brings out the best flavor in the vegetable. I have even tried Brussels sprouts...and they were SO good. A LONG time ago, I posted the Roasted Vegetable Lasagna...if you haven't made that yet...you should! Yum!
This is a simple pizza that I decided to make for my book club and it was so easy and such a great thing to make on a summer day. I LOVE that it uses Pesto for the sauce. We all love pesto and we always have our little frozen "pucks" ready in the deep freeze. Here's the post about freezing our pesto. (Scroll down to the bottom for the pesto instructions.)
This was the first time I made her Pizza Crust recipe...and I really liked it. It was easy and I liked the way it turned out. I always use Whole Wheat flour that I grind at home and it wasn't too dry at all.
Pizza Crust
1/2 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
3/4 cups Warm Water
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Pesto
3/4 cups Fresh Basil Leaves
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Tablespoons Pine Nuts
2 cloves Garlic, Peeled
Salt And Pepper, to taste
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
TOPPINGS:
2 whole Zucchini, cut diagonally
2 whole Summer Squash, cut diagonally
Olive Oil
1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper
1 whole Red Bell Pepper
12 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella, Sliced (I just used regular mozzarella cheese)
4 ounces, weight Goat Cheese
Extra Basil Leaves, For Garnish
Grated Or Shaved Parmesan Cheese
CRUST INSTRUCTIONS:
Sprinkle yeast over 3/4 cups warm water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until the dough comes together in a sticky mass. You don't want to add too much flour! Just enough to be able to handle it a little.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Place ball in bowl and cover and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours. ( I think I only had about 20 minutes and it turned out fine.)
PESTO INSTRUCTIONS:
Add basil leaves, 1/2 cup Parmesan, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to a food processor. Turn machine on, then drizzle in olive oil while it mixes. Continue blending until combined, adding additional olive oil if needed. Set aside.
TOPPINGS:
Brush zucchini and summer squash slices with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat until vegetables are tender and have nice grill marks. Set aside. (Or broil for 10 minutes, then turn and broil until done.)
Place whole peppers on grill (or under broiler) and allow to blacken. Remove from grill and immediately place in a large ziploc bag. Allow to sit for 20 minutes or so, then remove peppers from bag and peel off blackened skin. Deseed peppers, then slice into strips. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Arrange a rack toward the bottom of the oven.
To assemble the pizza: Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface; get it as thin as you can. spread a generous layer of pesto all over the surface of the crust. (You might have a little left over; if you do, store in the fridge.)
Lay slices of mozzarella all over the pesto. Arrange grilled zucchini, squash, and peppers in a pretty pattern on top of the mozzarella.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly (watch to make sure cheese doesn't get too brown.)
Remove from oven and crumble goat cheese all over the top of the pizza. Lay basil leaves on top, sprinkle with Parmesan, and serve immediately.
Sprinkle yeast over 3/4 cups warm water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until the dough comes together in a sticky mass. You don't want to add too much flour! Just enough to be able to handle it a little.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Place ball in bowl and cover and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours. ( I think I only had about 20 minutes and it turned out fine.)
PESTO INSTRUCTIONS:
Add basil leaves, 1/2 cup Parmesan, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to a food processor. Turn machine on, then drizzle in olive oil while it mixes. Continue blending until combined, adding additional olive oil if needed. Set aside.
TOPPINGS:
Brush zucchini and summer squash slices with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat until vegetables are tender and have nice grill marks. Set aside. (Or broil for 10 minutes, then turn and broil until done.)
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Arrange a rack toward the bottom of the oven.
To assemble the pizza: Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface; get it as thin as you can. spread a generous layer of pesto all over the surface of the crust. (You might have a little left over; if you do, store in the fridge.)
Lay slices of mozzarella all over the pesto. Arrange grilled zucchini, squash, and peppers in a pretty pattern on top of the mozzarella.
Remove from oven and crumble goat cheese all over the top of the pizza. Lay basil leaves on top, sprinkle with Parmesan, and serve immediately.
Roasted veggies give a great spin on any vegetable that you have grown bored or tired of. Especially with a sprinkle of some good olive oil!
ReplyDeleteThe Wanderfull Traveler