Roasted Tomato, Pesto Pizza

You've all probably made homemade pizza before. It's fun to make and you can please everyone when you let them top their own! We used to make it growing up and mom would let us put our own toppings on. Back then my kid-friendly pizzas had zero veggies. I loaded mine up with sauce, meat, and cheese! My pizzas have grown up a bit with me and now I've gone the complete opposite with toppings.

Toppings are the fun, easy part of pizze for me. You can be creative and try new combinations without totally destroying it. (Unless of course you were to add something strange like celery. Don't you try to tell me celery is tasteless, not true.) What I've struggled with is the crust. I've tried making it from scratch many times and just can't get the right texture. It's usually a little too soft and the slices droop. But not today!

The Delallo superfine flour saved me as well as cooking the crust almost all the way before adding the toppings.

Usually in my posts I include what I've been learning from my Bible Study or life in general but I'm not coming up with anything that doesn't feel forced. I think that's simply because what I've been studying is small, specific sections of John that I can't yet put into an overall thought. So, here's a taste of what the book is like that I've been going through.

Kathleen Nielson is a professor of literature and has written the Bible study book I'm using now. She does a great job of getting the reader to look deeply at a passage and help them (me) understand the context, connections, and application within that passage. Sometimes I don't fully know what answer she is looking for so I have to skip a question or come back to it later. 

Chapter 2 is where I'm reading now (one chapter of John per week) and she's making some cool connections about Jesus' presence at the temple during Passover. After reading in Exodus about the original Passover, it clicked that Jesus being in the temple, talking about his future crucifixion is kind of ironic. Here is the ultimate sacrificial Lamb standing where many burnt offerings have been offered for sins. Now, He has come to be the only sacrifice we need for forgiveness from God. 

She makes you think. I'm excited to see what else I'll learn.

Back to pizza! To be honest, I don't measure very often. If I'm baking I do because you can mess up baked goods pretty easily. But with this pesto, you can throw in more basil leaves or garlic depending on what flavors you want to stand out. It's also best to mix the pesto ingredients in a food processor. I just have my Ninja blenders which work well but not as well as a real processor.

Melted fresh mozzarella is so good! If you can't find fresh, I understand. The bagged, shredded cheese will do the job, but trust me, fresh is better!

Roasted Tomato, Pesto Pizza

Makes one 12 inch pizza (6 slices)

Crust:*

Delallo superfine flour (I used half the bag and halved the instructions on the package, listed below)

1/4 tsp yeast

2/3 cup lukewarm water

1/2 tsp salt

Toppings:

8 oz fresh mozzarella

-sliced in 1/4 inch (or thinner) slices

Roasted tomatoes

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

2 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp oregano

Pesto

1 garlic clove

5-6 fresh basil leaves

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp rosemary

2 tsp salt

2 Tbs pine nuts

1/4 cup olive oil

1. Prepare the pizza crust in advance if it needs to rise. Mine did. You should be able to refrigerate the dough for a day or two after it has risen if needed. 
2. Preheat oven to 350° F. Slice the tomatoes in half and toss in olive oil and oregano. Spread them out skin side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Put in the oven for 20 minutes. 
3. Put pesto ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend until ingredients are fine. 
4. Increase oven temp to 450° F and press out pizza dough on an oiled pan to desired thickness. Use a fork to poke holes all around the dough to prevent bubbles. Bake for recommended time on package. (I baked mine for 10 minutes)
5. Take the crust out of the oven and spread the pesto evenly over it. Then place the roasted tomatoes all around the crust. Finally places slices of mozzarella on top. They will spread, so don't get them too close to the edge. 
6. Place pizza back in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on it and take it out when the cheese has melted well. Enjoy!

*any pizza crust will work fine, this one was just a brand I wanted to try:)

Kale Chips

It's healthy post time! Aren't you excited!? I really do love kale chips though. I actually found myself trying to munch on Lay's but just wasn't enjoying them. Maybe it was the fried/oily taste that just didn't attract me, I don't know but I'm okay with it.

The foodie bullies out there like to poke fun at healthy things like kale chips and quinoa. But, we foodies can take confidence in our heart healthy choices, knowing we feel better for it. (And it means we don't have much guilt when we cheat;)

There are a few popular types of kale and this one is my favorite! It's called dinosaur kale! Well, its real name is Lacianto kale but it is also known as dinosaur kale which is awesome. It's a sweeter version that works wonderfully for chips. Other kinds are curly and red russian. Curly is the easiest to find but I think is the most bitter. Red russian I've only found at the Farmer's Market and I like best for salad because of its taste and softer texture. You can probably find all kinds at Whole Foods but it's not my usual grocery store. 

The end of James 5 is focused on prayer. "The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect." Elijah was just like us and he was able to ask God to stop the rain and He did. I don't see that kind of request being applicable for me but I really do need to be more fervent in prayer and faith. I was really excited to read this passage because I saw God answer a really simple request yesterday. It challenged me to not be wimpy in my prayer. Prayer does need to be guided by chapter five and James 4:3 "You ask and don't receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires." So, no asking for random, large sums of money for myself...

So, those four leaves of kale that take up an entire baking sheet...yeah I ate all of them. In one sitting. They're a little addicting. Enjoy!

Kale Chips

Lacianto (dinosaur) kale with main rib removed

olive oil

salt

Preheat oven to 325° F. Cut center ribs away from kale leaves. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Lay out kale leaves and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and put in the oven. Make chips for 10-11 minutes but keep an eye on them so make sure they aren't turning brown. When they are done, then you can easily cut them or break them into smaller chips. 

Vegetable Galette

I love love love wandering around the Des Moines Downtown Farmer's Market. This past Saturday was great for it because it was misty and slightly cool which kept the crowd small! I went for veggies and maybe something unique that I couldn't resist. That unique item this week was pure maple syrup and a small jar of maple cream. The couple selling it was super smart to sample the maple cream and list ways to use it! It sold me. I could eat it by the spoonful. It's rich but not too sweet. They suggested using it on pancakes, waffles, toast, or even on salmon...might have to try that one. But today's recipe is for my vegetables and it's a great way to get a serving or two of veggies in your meal!

Since I moved closer to work this summer, I was also moving further away from my church. I have been visiting churches for almost two months and have heard many great sermons. The whole process is a bit tough though when there are many good things happening in multiple churches. I just keep praying for wisdom in choosing a church.

One message that was pretty convicting to me was from Mark 9 about having a proper attitude toward sin. There were so many good points I could take the whole blog to talk about it. I'll just highlight a few thoughts that struck me the most. 

-Down playing sin is essentially promoting it. When I don't take sin seriously, it creates a bit of freedom to go ahead and do it. 

-What I want most will always win. This is why God gave us the greatest commandment. If I love Him the most, by His grace the things I do will reflect that. 

-Our brains automatically want to repeat what we hear and see. I need to be more aware of how I am being influenced and how I am influencing others.

Bought these lovely heirloom tomatoes and eggplant just for this recipe. The bumps add some character to these guys but don't make slicing easier.

I didn't end up using the yellow one so I'm excited to find another use for him this week!

Even with all this slicing, I didn't slice my fingers! I watched chopped today and one of the contestants caught her finger on her mandolin. I cringed for her. It happens so stinkin' fast and then the pain sets in a few seconds later. Lucky for me, I have no time constraint so I can baby my damaged appendage but they just have to wrap it up and keep going.

I liked this galette a lot but it did need more seasoning. Eggplant and zucchini are not strongly flavored veggies on their own. I'll add a suggested seasoning addition in the recipe. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Crust recipe taken from - 

http://passportsandpancakes.com/blog/2013/10/13/roasted-butternut-squash-galette

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling out dough.

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon salt

(1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon thyme) - my suggested addition

3 tablespoons ice-cold water

In a food processor fit with an S-blade, add the flour, butter, and salt. Pulse together a few times to combine. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, pulsing in between each addition. After the third tablespoon the dough should form. Remove from the food processor, gather in a ball, and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight. 

Filling-

1 small eggplant

1 medium tomato

1 small zucchini

1 Tablespoon dried basil

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

Pre-heat oven to 400° F. Slice vegetables about a quarter of an inch thick, sprinkle with salt and set eggplant and zucchini in a strainer so excess water can drip off.

Combine the olive oil, tomato paste, and spices. 

Once your crust is rolled out on parchment paper, spread 1/3 of the oil mixture over the crust. Next, layer the vegetables as desired, leaving a two inch edge to fold over once all vegetables are placed. Spread the remainder of the oil mixture over the vegetables. 

Other ingredients-

1 egg yolk

3 Tablespoons water

shredded cheese of choice

Fold the crust over the edge of the vegetables. Use one egg yolk and 3 Tablespoons of water to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash around the crust to create a slightly harder edge and give it some color after baking.

Place your galette in the oven for about 30 min. Keep an eye on it and bake longer or shorter if you would like.

I topped mine with a bit of asiago cheese but feta is another good option.

Slice like pizza and serve! Edit the filling as your family likes!