I would happily eat Italian pie every night of the week. Manatee has to be coaxed.
I prefer little to no sauce. Manatee would skip the crust altogether so he could eat a bowl of sauce and toppings.
I love cheese (oh the irony of being lactose intolerant!) and pile on as much as I can justify. He would prefer to be able to count the shreds of cheese. On one hand.
Making pizza at home can become a major negotiation process that usually results in making two different halves of the pizza.
Knowing this, I began to make the pizza before he came home last Friday night. He barely got a glimpse of it before I pushed it into the oven. Questions about the pizza prompted vague responses reminiscent of our conversations with our hard-of-hearing mothers.
Manatee:What kind of a pizza is it?
Badger Girl: I had a really good day today.
Manatee: What’s on the pizza?
Badger Girl: I need to do an 8 miler tomorrow.
Manatee: What’s it called?
Badger Girl: I love you too.
Manatee: I need a drink.
Badger Girl: I just opened a bottle of wine.
Drinks were poured and the pizza came out of the oven.
We no sooner smelled but we sighed. We no sooner sighed but we gazed. We no sooner gazed but we swooned. We no sooner swooned but we took one bite. We no sooner took one bite but we fell in love.
And in these degrees, we made a pair of stairs to pizza harmony.
Manatee had the explosion of tomatoes on top and I reveled in the sweetness of the steamed veggies. And the best part? Some of the veggies were from our garden. Our garden that I, by the grace of God, have not managed to kill just yet.
Cherry tomatoes from the steroid-induced cherry tomato plant.
My pride and joy- the eggplant that pricked my finger every time I checked on it. Look who got the last bite! Take that eggplant! Who's laughing now?
Inside Out Pizza
1 small eggplant, diced*
1/2 zucchini, diced*
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 small white onion, diced**
2 chicken sausages, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved*
1 whole wheat pizza dough
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese (or another hard cheese)
dried fennel
dried anise
dried oregano
dried basil
*From our garden. **From the CSA.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Sprinkle crust with fennel and anise.
- Pile on eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms and chicken sausage.
- Loosely cover with mozzarella and then parmesan cheese. Top with halved cherry tomatoes and then sprinkle with oregano and basil.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is browned and bubbly.
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
Recipe Review: This pizza was similar to a Veggie Stuffed Pizza I made earlier this year. I love how when you put the toppings under the cheese, the veggies get steamed as the pizza bakes. Yum! This was no different. I think next time I may try salting the eggplant for 20 minutes and then pressing the excess moisture out as it did border on a soggy interior crust. But overall, this is an excellent way to use produce and get your weekly pizza fix.
