Pizza!

And when we got home, I visited the garden, where I found many tomatoes! And a few more sad summer squashes… and lots of basil!

I knew what I wanted to make, and if you know me, you would have been able to guess. Because if I can rally to make one great summer produce meal, it is going to be pizza.

I did not have three days to make the crust, or feel up to making mozzarella to get whey for a crust, but Mark Bittman has a very satisfactory crust recipe that takes just an hour of rising time. I double the yeast, always, and with the food processor it takes very little time.

Pizza Dough

(adapted slightly from Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything)

3 cups white flour (you can substitute one cup of semolina or 1/2 cup wheat or other flour)
2 tsp salt
1 Tbs (according to me) yeast
1 cup+ water
2 Tbs olive oil (can be flavored)

Mix the dry ingredients in the food processor 30 seconds then pour in 1 cup water and 2 Tbs olive oil through the feed tube. If you need more to make it cohere into a ball, add more water slowly. Once it comes together, knead it on a floured surface until it is a nice, springy ball of dough. Put it in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap for an hour or so.

I also didn’t really feel up to making pesto, but what pushed me forward on this pizza was the fact that I had a lovely garlic scape pesto in the fridge (from my friend Maryjude made with garlic scapes I gave her). I suspect she used a recipe like this one— she used roasted pumpkin seeds but you can use pistachios or walnuts or whatever nut you choose (even sunflower seeds).  I also had store-bought fresh mozzarella from our nearly daily caprese salads. I sauteed some garden onion and yellow squash and added some garden garlic at the end. That was the base.

Then I put slices of tomato all over the top and the mozz and parmesan cheese. I set aside the basil for after the pizza was done (basil doesn’t do well IMO in a 500 degree oven). It only takes 8 minutes to cook, then top with more parmesan, basil, and serve!

Oh boy this was good.

And I’ve been lamenting all summer my inability to drink the fine wines my brother supplied me with in the spring. (As my husband happily guzzled them– what a boor– though I mostly switched him over to beer.) My brother chose summer wines, so most have been sweet, and even this one was a little sweet for my taste buds in their current state. But it was so nice to open up and have a glass of fine wine, I didn’t fret.