Grilled Margherita Pizza

You haven't tasted pizza until you've tasted a real Margherita pizza. Wow ....

".... the classic story of the pizza Margherita. Modern pizza history was made in 1889 when Queen Margherita Teresa Giovanni, the consort of Umberto I, visited Naples with her king. Don Raffaele Esposito, who owned Pietro Il Pizzaiolo, was asked to prepare a special dish in honour of the Queen's visit. Esposito consulted his wife who was the real pizza expert and together they developed a pizza featuring tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil. He named it the Margherita Pizza, after the city's guest of honor. " (recipepizza.com)

  Today, the cassic Margherita pizza is a simple pizza dough covered with crushed tomatoes, a sprinkle of sea salt, pinched pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves, a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Traditionally the pizza is then baked in a wood fired oven at around 700 degrees F for about 90 seconds. Most of us can't touch those temperatures unless we have our own wood fired ovens, but I can get close enough with my outdoor grill to enjoy this classic pizza.

 

Grilled Margherita Pizza

21 oz pizza dough ball (store bought or homemade)

3-4 oz crushed tomatoes

8 oz fresh mozzerella

6-10 fresh basil leaves

generous pinch of sea salt

small handful grated parmesan cheese

  I heat my grill up with the 16 inch stone in the center (lid closed). I set the burner dials at about half. After 10 minutes the thermometer in the lid of my grill measures about 400 degrees F. I don't have an infrared thermometer, but I am pretty sure the stone is at least 600 degrees F.

 Recently I have discovered the pizza screen. While the grill is heating up, I build the pizza right on the screen. (I discuss the technique for stretching the dough here.)

  The screen goes right on the stone for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, I slide the peel in between the screen and the pizza so I can remove the screen and put the pizza directly on the stone. I also turn on the sear burner at the back of my grill and rotate the pizza over the next 2 minutes making sure all the edges have been cooked properly. With a little practice I have been able to get a good char on the bottom of the finished pizza.

  The whole cooking process takes about 4 minutes. You may want to use a timer because it doesn't take long to turn the pizza into a cinder at these temperatures. If you like NY style pizza, I guarantee you will love this pizza.

TTFN

B

Vegetable Lasagna

  The continuing saga of trying to find ways to use up all the zuchini and squash the summer months provide. We used Mom's regular pasta lasagna recipe and swapped a few things out, most notable was the zuchini and squash for the pasta. We also use ground turkey instead of hamburger or sausage because that was what we had in the freezer.

Vegetable Lasagna
7-8 c good tomato sauce (recipe)
6 c mozzarella cheese shredded
2 lbs ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2 lbs ground turkey browned and seasoned
3 medium zuchini's
4 medium squash
3/4 c fresh parsley chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit. Slice zuchini and squash lengthwise in 1/4" thick pieces. Combine ricotta cheese, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley in a bowl. Mix well.

In a deep pyrex or stoneware baking dish layer the ingredients. We used a 13x9 stoneware baking dish. Put a layer of sauce (about a fourth), slices of zuchini and squash, meat (about a third), ricotta cheese mixture (about a third), mozarella (about a fourth). We got three layers in this pan. Finish with a layer of sauce and top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes then lower the temperature to 350 degrees farenheit and bake uncovered for 30 more minutes. Enjoy!

TTFN

B

Ratatouille with Quinoa

  Around our home anything that remotely resembles the recipe below is called Ratatouille. Maybe we're wrong, but one thing is for sure, if any combination of eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini is available, we cook it and call it the R-word. I'll list the ingredients for this version, but it isn't likely this exact recipe will be repeated here again. We even cook it different depending on the time of the year. In the summer we tend to use the stove top more and try to get it cooked relatively fast to avoid heating the kitchen up, but in the fall we make it in the oven and roast everything. As many ingredients as possible were used from the bucket garden.

Ratatouille with Quinoa

1 small Lavender eggplant cubed

2 small to medium zucchini cubed

3 small yellow squash cubed

3/4 medium white onion chopped

1 yellow bell pepper chopped (light green really ...)

4 plum tomatoes chopped (seeds removed)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 c canned mushrooms

2 cloves garlic (pressed)

1 1/2 c celery chopped (leaves and all)

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch parsley chopped (reserve small amount for garnish)

1 small bunch oregano chopped

1 small bunch basil chopped

4 c cooked quinoa

grated mozzarella cheese

salt

pepper

  In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Stir until soft and the aromatics are released. Add celery eggplant, and yellow squash. Lightly salt to help the vegetables to weep. Saute for 5 minutes. Add zucchini peppers and tomatoes. Once again, lightly salt. Saute for 5 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Add parsley, oregano, basil and mushrooms. Stir well and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serves 4. Plate over quinoa. Melt cheese on top. We use the microwave. Garnish with chopped parsley. Enjoy!

TTFN

B

Basil Cilantro Pesto

  With plenty of basil and cilantro coming out of the garden, some experimentation was in order. After a little research I came up with the following recipe:

Basil Cilantro Pesto

2/3 c packed basil leaves (washed)

2/3 c packed cilantro stalk and leaves (washed)

1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp roasted sunflower seeds (instead of pine nuts)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 clove garlic

1/2 c extra virgin olive oil

Blend the first 7 ingredients in a food processor (about a minute). With the food processor running, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture (about a minute).

I was really happy with this recipe and will definitely make it again. There are plenty of uses for pesto including pasta sauce, pizza sauce and crusty bread topper to name a few.

TTFN

B.