Gourmet Pizza!!

Pizzas almost ready to come out of the oven! Yes I know opening the door to sneak a pic is letting the heat out. Oh, and yes that is baking soda at the bottom of the oven from strawberry-rhubarb pie overflow. I have yet to find time to clean it and probably won't for a little while.

My favorite toppings: roasted peppers, feta, and kalamata olives (along with oil and garlic as a sauce and some mozzarella)

This one was soooo good!!!!


Roasted fennel, summer squash, tomato, and fresh basil pizza, with fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and thyme balsamic reduction

-I made homemade crust for the first time and it was reeeeeally easy! I used this recipe

-Coat a pan generously with olive oil and stretch dough to cover pan. 

-Instead of sauce I used garlic and olive oil. Just mince finely or crush the garlic with some salt to make a paste. Add desired amount of olive oil and spread all over the pizza dough. 

-I roasted sliced fennel tossed with olive oil and a little salt at 400F until soft.

-I sliced the zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes, and placed them between paper towel to soak up excess moisture.

-Slice mozzarella and place randomly on dough. Top with fennel and layer on squash and tomatoes. Place dollops of fresh ricotta all over pizza and sprinkle the top with fresh basil. Bake at 350-375 for about 20 minutes. Or until crust is golden brown and the middle of the dough is not too soft when you place a spatula under it. (next time I may prebake the crust for about 10 minutes at 350-375, and then do the toppings. After the prebake, I would crank up the heat to 400 to give some good color to the toppings)

-And for the balsamic reduction, I placed about 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar in a small pot with a few thyme sprigs. I let this simmer until the vinegar thickens into what looks like a syrup. It get very sweet and yummy! Drizzle this over the pizza just before serving.