Roasted Garlic, Sun-dried Tomato Pesto, & Chicken Pizza

The inspiration for this pizza came from Pinterest (surprise, surprise) but then I one-upped it by using sun-dried tomato pesto instead of the regular green stuff. I also learned that roasted garlic is extremely easy to make and even more delicious to eat. 

Another reason I was excited to make a za this particular weekend? I got a new rolling pin! I know that does not sound like such a thrilling thing for most people, but for all this time I have been making pizzas I have not owned a proper rolling pin. Even I find that a little bit odd. To roll out the dough I've been using a drinking glass turned on its side. That's actually worked quite well for me, but whenever my husband sees me using a glass to roll the dough, he worries that I will end up crushing it with my Hulk strength.  So I guess we can say it's pretty lucky I found this one before that happened!

The brand is "Bisetti" although I've never heard of that before. Williams-Sonoma sells one rolling pin of that brand, but the one I got is all one solid piece, more like this. It was one of those random finds I spotted at TJ Maxx one day while I was looking for anything but a rolling pin. And instead of being in the $15-$50 range, it was $5.99! 

Okay, enough of my hollering and raving about a rolling pin. On to the roasted garlic and the rest of the pizza.

Ingredients you'll need:

• 1 bulb of garlic
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4-6 oz. sun-dried tomato pesto sauce
• 1-2 cups pizza sauce
• 1-2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I seasoned mine a wee bit with some olive oil, salt, and pepper)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

To make the roasted garlic:

Let me just say again...this is so very easy. I will definitely be making it again to put into things other than pizza. 

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
• Peel off most of the outer paper-y skin on the garlic (doesn't have to be all of it or too perfect looking).
• Using a sharp knife, slice off the top of the garlic, about 1/2 inch down.
• Drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake until soft, about 35-40 minutes.
• Let it cool completely when it's done, then use a fork to smash it up into a paste.

Yes, this is one of those "looks nasty, tastes yummy" kind of deals. Moving on...

To make the pizza:

• Place a pizza stone in the oven and heat it to 500 degrees.
• Get your dough and other ingredients prepped in the meantime. 
• Spread the roasted garlic onto the prepared pizza dough. You can do this during the next step, but the roasted garlic became a pretty thick paste after I smashed it up, so I knew that it would take a little bit of work to spread it around evenly. It was just much easier to do this without worrying about getting burned on the hot pizza stone for such intricate work here.
• When the stone is hot, place it on your work surface and place the dough on top of that. Top with the roasted garlic paste (if you haven't already), then the pesto, pizza sauce, chicken, and mozzarella - in that order. 
• Place that whole gorgeous pile of pizza tastiness back into the oven and bake away for about 10 minutes. This one cooked quick for me and I took it out after about 9 minutes. 

I think it's safe to say that the sun-dried tomato pesto was the noticeably tasty thing in this recipe, along with the roasted garlic. I actually only used about a half a bulb of garlic, and the pizza could have easily used more. I'll go for the whole bulb next time, no question about that. Also, the sun-dried tomato pesto that I used comes in an 8.5-oz jar, and I used about half of what was in that jar. Use more or less depending on how much you love pesto. So basically, use more. (Who doesn't love pesto?)

The first thing I could say when this pizza came out of the oven was, "This pizza looks so legit." Because it did. I mean, come on...you have to admit it looks a bit like a DiGiorno at first glance. But these flavor-flaves put DiGiorno to shame. Shame, I say! Slice it, let it cool, and chow down to believe. 

It's My Birthday!

It is true...this day, 27 years ago, I rolled into the world. And just look how far I've come with all my pizzas and exercise things. It nearly brings a tear to my own eye.

So let's get down to business. There aren't too many great restaurants in my small town, and of the handful of ones I like I really wasn't craving any of those for a birthday meal. Yes, despite the time and energy, I made my own birthday pizza because I wanted to. 

I found a recipe for "Antipasta Pizza" on Pinterest last week and decided I'd like to try this as a birthday meal. The basic idea of it is that it's covered with things you'd find on an antipasta platter...but it's on a pizza. It's so genius, I wish I'd thought of it myself. My pizza philosophy is that you can make any meal into a pizza. If you love mac & cheese, buffalo chicken, tacos, or stuffed mushrooms, you (or I) can think some way to top a pizza in those sorts of things. Instantly you have the best of both worlds. Your favorite food and pizza. Instantly! It blows my mind sometimes, I'm sure you just experienced that too. 

Antipasta Pizza toppings:

• 1-2 cups pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup pesto sauce
• 1 6-oz. jar of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped into smaller pieces
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup pickled banana pepper rings
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
• 6 to 8 slices of large, round genoa salami (Boar's Head at the deli counter is always good)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 500 with the pizza stone inside. 
• Chop all toppings into pieces that are a size you would like to eat. I chopped my artichokes and tomatoes pretty small because they're a little too chewy when they're left as-is. I also cut the salami into fourths because those pieces were sort of massive on their own. The banana peppers and olives came pre-sliced in just the right sizes.
• When the pizza stone is ready, take it out of the oven and place your prepared crust on top of it. 
• Spread the pesto sauce evenly around on that and then spread the sauce on. 
• Add all the toppings on next, starting with the veggies, then the salami, the mozzarella, and finally the parmesan. 
• Pop that stacked za into the oven for 10-12 minutes. Let it sit and cool for a bit when it's done because it is 500 degrees, duh. 

Go as spicy or mild as you want with all those toppings. I used hot banana peppers, making this za very spicy and tangy. It was good. So, so good, and I'm glad I had it for my birthday. I also left it in the oven a little longer than I meant to, which is why the cheese on top looks extra golden. No biggie, as long as it wasn't burnt we're doing good.

Naturally, good friends and good conversation complimented the pizza too. We had our friends Farrah and Anne over to enjoy the meal with us and there was never a dull moment with those two. It's just further encouragement for me to keep making and sharing pizzas!

Look at those magical slices. You may not be able to tell by looking, but they are absolutely mouth-wateringly incredible. Pizza like this isn't dull or even average. It is so flavorful and exciting for your taste buds that it really does not take much to satisfy you. As good as it was I only had one slice with my dinner...never mind all the other stuff I ate. But even still, when it comes to cheap pizzas (or any cheap foods for that matter) you keep going back for more, just hoping and expecting that it will taste better with the next piece. But it never does. Actually, it only gets worse. So make this damn pizza already and experience some good satisfying food for once!

Pesto, ham, roasted red pepper, and tomato pizza

I guess you could say that I felt like favoring the red portion of the color wheel with this pizza. And also, Boar's Head Honey Maple Ham was on sale at the deli counter. Regardless, the reds, pinks, and purples were among my choices for today's pizza pie!

Pizza toppings:

• 1/4 - 1/3 cup pesto sauce
• 1 - 2 cups pizza sauce
• 1 red onion
• 5 or 6 slices of ham
• 6 oz. jar of marinated roasted red bell peppers
• 1 or 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

Okay, I wasn't planning on it but I added bacon too. While I was attempting my online yoga video in the morning my spouse was over in the kitchen making bacon, eggs and toast. He offered to make some for me, and since I'm "so healthy" I said no and got back to my yoga. Okay hold it right there - have you ever tried to do yoga while smelling bacon? My name should appear in some world record book for achieving that. Trying to find my chi when all I could sense on every deep inhale was sizzling bacon...dear God it was torture.

Well, my husband even made extra bacon thinking that I would cave and come stuff my face with the fatty delightful stuff. Somehow, I actually resisted this one time. He conceded that I wasn't going to succumb to the heavenly scent of cooked pig and put the two deserted leftover pieces of bacon into the fridge. And that's where I found them about 5 minutes later and decided that today would be a great day to take a break from said "healthy" practices.

Instructions:

• Place the pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. I like to let it sit in there for a few minutes after it's reached 500, just to be sure it's thoroughly good and toasty.
• Chop the red onion into medium/small bits, and sauté that in a touch of olive oil in a skillet. 
• Cut the slices of ham into smaller pieces. I prefer ham pieces that are cut into squares about 2"x2" so they're not too tiny. Actually that's sort of big. 
• Slice the tomatoes into rounds.
• When everything in the oven is nice and hot, carefully take the stone out and place it onto your work surface. Place your rolled out dough for the crust on top of that.
• Spread the pesto on first, evenly, all the way to the edge. Okay, I like to spread the toppings out as far as possible, but if you want a little edge to hold onto while eating the za, then leave half an inch or so.
• Spread the sauce on next, evening it out with the back of a spoon. 
• Sprinkle on the rest of the toppings - sautéed onions, bacon, ham, peppers, tomatoes, then cheese on top. 
• Carefully place that all back into the oven, and leave it there for 10-12 minutes. I actually cooked this pie for 13 minutes because the water content was pretty high from all those veggies. 

The pesto layer. Careful, that stone is HOT!

Whatever sort of pesto that was that I used (something in a jar from the store) was  pretty good, but not fantastic. Next time I go pesto shopping I'll probably just pass on by that brand and try another one. Still, it added some tasty flavor, but overall it didn't taste super tasty, like you'd normally expect from a pesto sauce.  

Za, are you ready for your close-up?

The mistake I think I made on this pizza was using too many of the roasted red peppers. Actually, I used an entire 12 ounce jar. The flavor they added was great, but since I used jarred ones they were very water-filled and added extra moisture to the pizza. Next time I'll definitely use less if they come from a jar, or I'll just get a fresh bell pepper and roast or sauté it myself.

The tomatoes also added extra moisture to the za. If I hadn't been rushing to slice and toss them on there, I would have let them sit on a paper towel for a few minutes after slicing to wick away some of the water. 

Oh, all these pizza mishaps! It was still very good and will be even better when I re-heat the leftover slices in the toaster oven. Yup, the toaster oven. Or you can use the big oven if you don't have a toaster oven. Pizza re-heated in the microwave is just soggy and the crust turns tough. Keep the crust crispy by heating it back up in the oven.