A Natural Born Diva and Asparagus Pizza

I got an email today from a former student. 

You may remember Abby. 

Abby had a Good Cook birthday party where she, and seven of her BFF's (her words, not mine) made vegetable dip, personal pizzas, cupcakes and taco (waffle) sundays. 

Abby's email was in regards to the recent post I did of Lilyanna, another little girl who recently, with her mom, took one of my cooking lessons. 

Abby wanted to know why there was a picture of "some little girl who isn't me on The Good Cook's Blog? I was the one who had the party"..

Ahh.. a Diva is born.

Abby's mom sent me this recipe to try out. Since I have asparagus and recently made goat cheese (chevre) and pesto I'm going to make it tonight. 

Let's all enjoy Abby's mom's recipe and beware of 7-year old diva's sporting chef hats.

Goat Cheese and Asparagus Pizza

(For a crispier pizza coat the crust with cooking spray before adding the toppings)

 

1/3 cup prepared pesto

1 Boboli pizza crust (Abby's mom used a Boboli whole wheat crust and said it was good)

2-3 plum tomatoes

8 asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces

3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

 

Preheat oven to 450. Spread pesto over the pizza crust, and top with tomatoes, asparagus and cheese. (I put my crust on a baking pan but the recipe said to place it directly on oven rack). Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes or until asparagus is crisp tender and cheese melts.

A Cook's Note: I think this would be great on the grill. Simply rub one side of the crust with olive oil and grill lightly (2-3 minutes). Turn over and place your toppings on this side. Then, transfer to grill and grill until toppings are hot and melted. 

If you are using a gas grill. Light the outside burners to medium high. Light the middle burners to low. Place the pizza on the middle burners and close the lid. This should bake and grill the pizza nicely - but watch closely!! 

 

Going Camping and Summer Pizza

We are getting ready to meet my son, daughter-in-law and the littles for a weekend of camping. 

Tent camping to be specific. 

According to my oldest KidAdult I have been whimping out over the years as our camping escapades involved some 25ft. of metal that housed pretty much the contents of my entire house plus air conditioning. 

He said when he was small we roughed it. In a tent. That statement makes me laugh. He sounds like an old man. Like, When I was boy we didn't have no RV... we did it the hard way, in a tent, barefoot. And we had to walk 100 miles in a thunderstorm to get to pitch it. And we had to hunt our food... LOL.

Anyway. The Best Husband In The World reluctantly agreed with me and we agreed with KidAdult #1 to meet him and the girls and camp. The old way. 

So we're off to the great outdoors. I am in charge of Saturday night dinner. 

Actually I love to cook outdoors. Food always tastes so good cooked over charcoal or an open camp fire, especially after a day spent swimming and sailing on the lake. 

So all this planning and talking and prepping and packing reminded me of something my dad used to make on a summer's evening. He always made this for a snack, not a meal and it was always a delicious surprise when my mom would call us in from catching fireflies or playing flashlight tag with a gaggle of neighborhood kids. 

We'd come roaring up the stoop all barefoot and dirty, just as the streetlights came on and the smell of Summer Pizza would hit us full in our happy faces. 

I've updated this a little bit - but the taste still takes me back to the warm summer nights of my youth. 

Summer Pizza: 

1 pizza shell (store bought, pizzeria bought or home made*)

2-3 fresh tomatoes, sliced

10-12 slices fresh mozzarella

2 tablespoons fresh ricotta cheese (optional)

10-12 fresh bay leaves

drizzle of olive oil

Optional: mushrooms and artichoke hearts (quartered) tuck these under the cheese (hey, my tastes have matured!)

Preheat grill to medium low.

Drizzle one side of pizza dough with olive oil and using your hand, smear it all around. Place this side down on the grill. Close cover and grill 3-5 minutes until JUST done on one side. 

Place dough ungrilled side down on floured board. On grilled side place sliced fresh tomatoes, top with bay leaves, then mozzarella, drop fresh ricotta randomly by teaspoon full on top. 

Carefully slide dough back onto grill. Grill until dough is puffed and cheese is melted. 

Serve with Kool-Aid and we're back in the 60's. 

*Your neighborhood pizzeria is usually happy to sell you a pizza dough. It will cost you about $2.00 to $3.00 and will always be expertly made. But if you're ambitious, try this:

Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F) this is important - use your meat thermometer to test temp. Too hot - kills the yeast, too cold - won't grow.

1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine the flour and salt and set aside. Dissolve yeast in the warm water, let sit for 5 minutes. Add the oil. Stir in the flour / salt mixture. Turn out on lightly floured baord and knead until smooth and elastic. 

Lightly grease a medium bowl and place the dough in the bowl. cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about an hour)

When the dough has doubled, punch down and turn out on floured surface. Let rest for 10 minutes, then "toss" if you're good or roll out to a round.

If you make this right after dinner it will be raised enough just when the fireflies come out and the street lights come on.