Flatbread Pizzas for Summer

Weeknight summer eating is always a challenge for us. We want to be outside which means dinner can’t take that long to make and should be lighter, especially if we eat later in the evening.

Margot recently found a recipe for a grilled flatbread pizza with Prosciutto, Arugula and Lemon on page 125 of the June 2011 issue of Cooking Light magazine. This definitely fit the bill. She made it even easier by using fresh Naan bread from the bakery instead of a crust made as part of the recipe.

The next week Margot riffed on this idea with her own recipe for Fig Jam, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese and Arugula flatbread pizzas. Another hit, although the gastronomic effect of these made the first one the winner!

Fig Jam, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese and Arugula Flatbread Pizzas

2 whole wheat Naan breads from the grocery store bakery
2 oz fig & orange jam (specialty food store item)
2 oz soft goat cheese
1 medium onion, sliced
4 Tbsp butter
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Handful of arugula

Caramelize the onions with the butter. This can be done ahead of time. Warm the Naan in a 400 degree oven for a few minutes. Spread the jam evenly on each of the flatbreads. Cover with the onions. Spoon the goat cheese over the top. Heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes to allow everything to warm and the cheese to melt a bit. Remove from the oven and plate. Toss the balsamic vinegar with the arugula. Top each pizza with the vinegar laden greens and serve.

Quick, easy and full of flavor!

Cheers!

Jason

Grillin' & Chillin' - Photos of Summer Delights from the Grill

( Skirt steak with a Chipotle sauce and cilantro. )

( The people who man the grill make a world of difference. My brother-in-law Bob. )

( Grilled pizza was a big deal for us in 2010. BBQ Pork with Jack cheese and carmerlized onions. )

( This pig was cool, and damn tasty too! )

( My makeshift smoker can handle all sorts of stuff! )

( Curtis working the grill at Curtis' BBQ in VT. )

( More grilled pizza. Chicken pesto and a bacon, onion and banana pepper creation of our friend Melanie. )

( Smoked turkey is my favorite way to use my smoker setup. )

Alley Cat Pizzeria - Manchester, NH

There are those places in every town that you always here buzz about. “Oh, you have to go.” or “I cannot believe you have never eaten at.” Alley Cat Pizzeria in Manchester NH is one of those places. This is the pizza place that many in the area say is a must go to. They have won Best of the Best in the local HippoPress for years. So, as someone who is searching out great pizza places to blog about in New England this one in my hometown seemed like a no brainer.

We purchased to large pizzas, one mushroom and one Stray Cat. I always like to try a simple topping along with a specialty when trying a new place in order to get a real feel for what they have to offer. We picked up the pizzas and headed home on our 15 minute drive. The Jeep smelled wonderful and Jay and I had a hard time waiting until we got it home to dig in.

Alley Cat is known for its super thin crust that is perfect for the NY fold in half technique. Our crust lived up to that super thin reputation. The crusts ends were nice and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and though thin it was not soggy. Both pizzas were light on the sauce, which for me is preferable when dealing with a thinner crust, less messy and not overpowering. The flavor of the sauce was somewhat unremarkable, beyond tomato there was not a lot of discernable flavors.

The cheese was the right amount, not skimpy, but not so thick that you could not bit through it. The Stray Cat specialty pizza had both mozzarella and ricotta. It was impressive that while the mozz was well cooked and slightly brown, the ricotta was not a dried out mess as can sometimes happen. The Stray Cat also included breaded eggplant, which was well cooked with perfectly toasted breading. The mushrooms on the other pizza were fresh and were a nice size. As for seasoning on either, Jay and I did something we have never done, we used salt to kick up the flavor a bit.

As we ate our pizza there was a bit of silence, though not the normal silence that accompanies the devouring of pizza. I think that Jay and I were both trying to find the words to describe our experience. The build up to the pizza at Alley Cat had been so strong and so big. Best pizza in the area, the pizza you would travel for, you have to try it! I am not sure if any pizza could have lived up to the hype, but was the hype causing our reaction? Maybe. When we finally spoke our conclusions were in agreement. Alley Cat Pizza is very good, unsophisticated, pizza. It is the pizza that you remember from those late nights in college. It is the pizza that you may have eaten on your first date in High School. I guess one could call it nostalgic pizza. If you are in the neighborhood looking for a quick slice I would definitely recommend it, as it will not be dissatisfying. My goal now is to find a place in Manchester, which may not be getting the hype but leaves a stronger impression.

Mangia!

Margot

Don’t Know Until You Try

Anyone that is married to a creative Chef has had those moments. The one where said creative Chef throws out a recipe idea and all you can think is: you’re making what, and I have to eat it? But then, every person married to a GOOD creative Chef knows that those moments are often followed with amazing, delicious experiences. This is a story of one of those moments…

My only request for dinner was that it be pizza, most likely due to the Travel Channel show I had just watched devoted to the subject. Jay has come up with some wonderful pizza ideas in the past when issued this challenge. (Pulled Pork Pizza and Hoisin Chicken Pizza being two of my favorites.) As always when faced with a dinner challenge he went to the kitchen and pondered the ingredients we had on hand.

Two items caught his eye: first the home made dill pickles, second the package of bacon. When he came back with the idea of Bacon Pickle Pizza I was a little skeptical. As always I should have known better!

The resulting pizza was better than I ever could have imagined. The crunch and light brine of the pickles mixed with the salty goodness of the bacon was so perfect.

Both the toppings played so well off of the standard red sauce and mozzarella cheese and the flat bread crust was the perfect conveyor. It was like all the best things about a bacon cheeseburger without the burger overpowering the other flavors. (Though you could add beef as an additional topping I think that it would take away from the other flavors).

Never doubt a creative Chef… It pays to just go with the flow and enjoy the delicious ride.

Mangia,

Margot

Grilling Pizza with Friends

Hardcore home cooks and hosts have lots to be anxious about when planning large and involved outdoor events. Will it rain, will too few or too many people show up and will enough people want to get involved to help pull it off? Yesterday those anxieties were just a preparation exercise; because everything came together in that magical way we often dream of.

A few months back we hooked up with Boboli through HouseParty.com to host a grilled pizza party on August 14th, 2010. We were excited to execute a party theme that was very different than anything we had done before; thus we set out to invite everyone we could and collect some attention getting pizza recipes to make.

All the recipes for the pizzas can be found in the photo journal below. Much thanks to Boboli and HouseParty.com are an order; the gifts for our guests and party planning tools were great assets for our day. Boboli provided some tips on how to grill pizza (used for all of recipes) which we have summarized here:

• Use uneven heat in your grill by turning one burner off, circulating the heat is key
• Grill the crusts on both sides with a little olive oil before assembling pizzas
• Pre-cook all ingredients and use them at room temperature for the best results
• Watch the crusts so they don’t burn, lower heat works

( i rehydrated dried figs when no fresh figs could be found )

We kicked off our party with a pizza recipe submitted by Pam at the Sticks Forks Fingers blog, a frequent reader of ours. Her Brie & Fig pizza was extremely flavorful and the figs provide a distinct texture that got plenty of attention. Our friend Richard had a nice quote about this pizza, “it was like a sunburst of flavor.” he said with a smile. A twist for this pizza was offered when I couldn’t find a traditional block of Brie cheese and ended up with Crème de Brie. We warmed the cheese first and then spread it on the crust. Ed, Melanie and Margot assembled this pizza and though that would be a worthy trick to use in the future. Please visit Stick Forks Fingers and see what Pam is up to. Make sure and leave a nice comment about how she contributed to our incredible event.

( much thanks to Richard for helping on the grill )

Our second appetizer offering was a whole-wheat grilled Boboli, cut into wedges and served with a shrimp, feta and zucchini salad. The inspiration for the salad came from our friend Cyndi who brought stuffed zucchini (stuffed with a shrimp & feta salad) to a wine tasting of ours and went home with an empty platter and lots of feedback. The fresh cold salad on top of the Boboli wedges reminded us of bruschetta. The salad was a nice palate cleanser for guests to transition from snacks to dinner!

We knew from a survey of our guest list two days before that we could have 40 people or more and in response we made sure we had plenty of pizzas ready to make. With both unique and straightforward styles our guests were not disappointed:

* Two styles of Margherita pizza

* Bacon, Onion & Mushroom Alfredo

* Chicken, Pesto and Ricotta

* Pepperoni & Mozzarella

* BBQ Pork, Caramelized Onions with Jack cheese

Along with our invitation we asked guests to come ready to help us assemble and cook pizzas, something we thought would add even more flair to a day of grilling pizza. We couldn’t have expected the enthusiasm we experienced, with party goers jumping up to help and asking to have “their” pizza be next. Margot finished the day cooking a dessert pizza with two of our youngest guests, who will most likely be talking about the fun they had for some time. Our friends are the best and days like yesterday are great reminders of how much we have to be thankful for. Mellissa & Kennedy loved making the Chicken, Pesto & Ricotta pizza, a recipe Melissa submitted to us and said she orders from her local pizza place. The fresh garlic and basil pesto from our garden played nicely with the grilled chicken and creamy cheese.

Margot’s high school friend Melanie and her husband George have recently orbited into our lives and are owed considerable thanks for their help with setup, cooking and cleanup. Margot and I were afraid to try and force Melanie to stopping washing dishes. George agreed we were smart to step away! Melanie also brought the ingredients for the Bacon, Onion & Mushroom Alfredo pizza. The unique spin on this pizza was that all of the ingredients were grown, made and purchased locally. The smell of the homemade garlic sauce used to grill the crust filled the air as we prepared the pizza. This pizza was the favorite of many of our guests, a well deserved recognition.

( this pizza had the best aromas of all of them, the smoky bacon was a hit! )

( just look at it!!! )

( Margherita pizzas )

( chicken, pesto & ricotta )

My special project for the week was a BBQ pork pizza with caramelized onions and Monterey Jack cheese. I slow cooked country style pork ribs with whatever BBQ sauce we had, some orange juice and liquid smoke until they fell apart. I had enough pork to go edge to edge with it on the crust. The caramelized onions were placed on top of the cheese and create a nice crisp crunch on the top of each

bite!

( BBQ pizza never dissapoints! )

During our preparations Margot knew she wanted to make a dessert pizza with bananas, peanut butter and chocolate, something I also knew would be a ticket to success. We decided on Nutella in place of plain chocolate and thus the name “Double Nut Banana Chocolate” pizza was born. This pizza lasted about 3 minutes and I only got a bite of the piece Margot snuck off before guests dug in. What a great affirmation of a tasty idea! Margot enjoyed working with her assistant chefs Gracie and Amelia to make this pizza. They had so much fun taste testing all of the ingredients before using them!

( Margot and girls cooking up some dessert )

( it looks like a messy delight!!! )

We didn’t specifically pair our wines and cider with the pizzas allowing guests to experiment with different flavors themselves. Quite a bit of praise was offered for the 2010 Pacific Quartet, a wine that I believe is just coming into a sweet spot of drinkability. Our 2009 traditional dry-style cider was tasty on a warm sunny day, and especially a hit with the guys! Several guests paired the Margherita pizzas with our 2009 Pinot Grigio and found a good match. I have to thank John for his words of appreciation for our 2008 Cabernet Blend. I hadn’t opened a bottle of this in some time and found it to have developed even more since I last had it. After dessert I broke out bottles of 2009 Peach/Moscato, 2010 Jalapeno dessert, 2009 Vermont Dandelion and 2010 Pomegrante/Black Currant wines. This was a pretty eclectic selection of wines for a mini-tasting, but the feedback suggests that some of our more obscure and small batch wines are very interesting to our friends. I’ll have to keep at that then!

( I'm smiling because I was having a lot of fun! )

We couldn’t have hoped for a better party and are so thankful to have been able to spend such good times with our friends. All of the recipes can be found below and leave comments with questions about anything you see.

Cheers!

--Jason

Disclaimer: We did receive $50 in coupons for Boboli product as hosts for a Boboli Beat BBQ Boredom party.

 Recipes and Party Photos

Brie and Fig Appetizer Pizza

One Boboli crust

4 oz. wedge Brie

6 fresh figs, sliced

1/4 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

3-4 Tablespoons honey
Fresh black pepper

Thinly slice brie, and arrange atop the Boboli crust. Scatter fresh figs and walnuts over the cheese. Grill over medium coals until the cheese is soft and melty. Drizzle with honey and give it a good sprinkling of cracked black pepper before cutting into thin wedges.

Margherita with Mozzarella

1 Boboli Crust

Handful of fresh basil

½ sliced tomato

½ of a 4 oz mozzarella ball sliced
1/3 jar of pasta sauce

Margherita with Grated Parmesan

1 Boboli Crust

Handful of fresh basil

½ sliced tomato

3 oz grated parmesan

1/3 jar of pasta sauce

Pepperoni

1 Boboli Crust

15 slices of pepperoni

6 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 jar of pasta sauce

Grilled Chicken, Pesto & Ricotta

1 Boboli Crust

1 split chicken breast, marinated in Italian salad dressing, grilled and cut small

½ cup fresh garlic and basil pesto

6 oz ricotta cheese

2 oz shredded mozzarella

BBQ Pork & Caramelized Onions

1 Boboli Crust

2 meaty country pork ribs, slow cooked in regular

BBQ sauce, orange juice and liquid smoke

4 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 large onion, slide and caramelized

3 oz of BBQ sauce

Prosciutto, Bacon, Onion, Mushroom & Peppers with Alfredo Sauce

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Caramelized Red Onions

White Button Mushrooms

Homemade Garlic Infused Olive Oil

Prosciutto

Fresh smoked bacon

Sweet peppers from the garden

 

Double Nut Banana Chocolate Pizza

1 Original Boboli Crust

3 large ripe bananas

3 oz peanut butter

3 oz Nutella

½ oz honey (spread on crust after pre-cooking)

Spray whipped cream

Donna's Test Kitchen - Grilled Boboli Pizza

Reminder: The Boboli Grilled Pizza Recipe Challenge still running. Check out the challenge and entry information.

My parents won’t be able to make the Boboli Beat BBQ Boredom Grilled Pizza Party in a few weeks and having been offered the opportunity to virtually participate in advance, my Mom (Donna) really came through. Thanks Mom!

We all converged on the family place in VT for the weekend where Mom had prepared to make a grilled pizza with a whole-wheat Boboli for lunch. This was definitely a good opportunity to try the process ahead of time and have a fantastic lunch. And I got a serious run for my money when it comes to flavor combinations with this one. Check this out.

Grilled Rosemary Apple, Cheese & Tomato Jam Pizza

½ jar homemade tomato jam

1 granny smith apple

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

2 oz grated Monterey Jack cheese

1 oz crumbled blue cheese

2 tbsp butter

According to all of the Boboli resources we got or have access to as party host, and HouseParty.com does a great job with this, we learned a couple simple rules for grilling pizza:

• Cook all your large pieces for toppings first, especially meats.
• Leave one grill burner off to create some heat circulation
• Carefully grill the crust before topping and cooking 

The grill in VT has two burners and both were used to preheat the grill. Then we shut off on and put the heat down to medium for the other.

Using some olive oil we grilled the crust for 4-5 minutes per side, watching closely for burning. It came off the grill to be topped hissing a bit and with a nice crisp outside. The apples were sautéed in the butter until fork tender. The rosemary was added at the end of the sauté until fragrant. The tomato jam was used to cover the warm crust and the apples were arranged around the crust, including the center. We spread the cheese on top and went back the grill. Here is where we observed a useful logistical lesson but avoided learning it the hard way. Have tools ready to move the pizza back and forth from the grill. The Boboli will not support itself and nor do you want it to. A large spatula and tongs or a flat pan with no sides will work best.

The pizza needs to be rotated for even cooking and melting and requires a watchful eye. Cooking times will vary. We removed it from the grilled, let it stand a bit and dug in.

 

Mom and Dad are hotly anticipating some delightful pizza So was the camera guy!

The tomato jam provides a sweet base for the pizza and while it could be served as a dessert pizza, I found that the rosemary and blue cheese kept it firmly on the savory side of the house for me. The apples were perfectly cooked and fell apart with each bite. A little butter flavor doesn't hurt either.

How can you pass up something that looks like that? The crust was crispy on the outside and warm and chewy on the inside. The two kinds of cheese provided different flavors in each bit and as crazy as this might sound and look I am combinations like this show up in upscale restaurants all the time.

We tried a couple of wine pairings and found that nothing we opened was a good match for the sweetness of the jam. The Ancient Fire 2008 Gewurztraminer/Riesling Blend tried admirably, but couldn't do it. The wine on its own is still drinking very well to its credit. The Jewell Towne Orange Muscat dessert wine was too tart to stand up to the pizza. Some medium-dry hard cider was better and had it had carbonation it might have done well. No harm, the pizza was excellent!

I hope you have been appropriately teased for our upcoming grilled pizza party. We are still accepting recipes until Saturday and will be drawing winners over the weekend.  The guest list is growing and we are expecting some enjoyable times trying different grilled pizza styles in the backyard.

Cheers!

Jason