Tag: basil

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Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Pizza

This spring (in quarantine), we built our first garden in our backyard. If you ask my husband what we grew this year, he will say, “We grew a fence.” That part was definitely the most work! We planted seeds and hoped for the best after that job. To our delight, we had a great first year of gardening, growing mostly flowers, pumpkins, and some vegetables.

Our first harvest was 3 rows of beautiful beets! Ollie LOVED harvesting beets, pulling the big greens stems up from the ground to reveal big, purple beetroots. Of course, spraying the beets off with the hose was the most fun thing ever for a 2-yr-old! I know ALL of us were really proud of this harvest.

Ollie the Jr. Beet Farmer

Roasted beets are one of my top-favorite fall foods, and in my opinion they taste SO much better with goat cheese! And don’t all delicious veggies deserve to have a go on pizza?! Try this fun take on pizza by topping it with roasted beets and creamy goat cheese.

Caramelized onions are SUPER good on pizza too!
beetza

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Pizza

Morgan
Beetzza anyone?
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • Half-sheet roasting pan for beets
  • Pizza pan, roasting pan, or pizza stone for pizza
  • Parchment paper
  • Small food processor for basil vinaigrette

Ingredients
  

  • 1 recipe pizza dough or store-bought dough
  • 3 cups beets, peeled and cubed
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3-4 oz fresh mozzarella, torn or sliced
  • 2-3 oz goat cheese, crumbled
  • 3-4 fresh basil leaves, for garnish

Basil Vinaigrette

  • 1 small shallot
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions
 

Prepare basil vinaigrette

  • Pulse shallot and garlic clove in food processor until minced. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper and pulse once more.
  • Add packed basil leaves, vinegar, and about 1 tbsp (eyeball it) olive oil to the food processor and begin blending. Add remaining oil in a small stream with the motor running. Process until basil vinaigrette is a smooth consistency, about 1-2 minutes.

Roast beets

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place diced beets on a parchment-lined roasting pan and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes, or until browned.

Prepare pizza

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees with roasting pan or pizza stone inside.
  • Stretch portions of dough to 8-10 inches wide on parchment paper (or cornmeal if using pizza stone and peel).
  • Spread 1-2 tbsp basil vinaigrette on dough with the back of a spoon. Top evenly with beets, mozzarella, and goat cheese.
  • Slide pizza on parchment paper onto hot roasting pan (be careful!) and bake until cheese is bubbly, about 8-10 minutes. Finish with a few basil leaves.

Notes

I use Roberta’s Pizza Dough recipe from NYT Cooking.
Basil Vinaigrette is adapted from What’s Gaby Cooking.
Keyword basil, beets, goat cheese, mozzarella, pizza

If you try this recipe, be sure to tag @dinneronthecouch so I can cheer you on!

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Pizza Night is the Best Night

Pizza. The ultimate unifying food between picky eaters, friend groups, and families with kids. While delivery or takeout is its own kind of satisfying, I promise that making pizza yourself at home totally beats ordering out! If you haven’t tried it, what are you waiting for?! You only need DOUGH and TOPPINGS!

Dough:

My absolute favorite is Roberta’s Pizza Dough recipe from NYT Cooking. It uses 00 flour, an ultra-fine flour that makes the dough super light. There are LOTS of other recipes for pizza dough out there, and you can always buy a ball of dough from a local pizzaria or the grocery store! Be sure to stretch it out using floured hands, never roll it with a rolling pin, in order to get those nice bubbles and a hand-stretched texture.

For the love of CHEESE:

Fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes as a big soft block) is my FAV thinly sliced or torn, but the shredded kind in a bag is good too. I also love adding some goat cheese in addition to the mozz if I’m feelin it! Top it with parmesan before it hits the oven.

Sauce & Toppings:

Here’s where you can really make pizza night your own using ingredients you love. It’s easy to make your own tomato sauce, but I still use prepared sauce because it’s ready when I need it! I love Don Pepino’s or Rao’s Pizza Sauce.

Instead of red sauce, you can go basil vinaigrette, pesto, roasted garlic blended with oil, etc.

Caramelized onions. Roasted veggies (BEETS/potatoes/squash/corn). Chorizo, pepperoni, sausage, or bacon if that’s your thing. Oregano and/or crushed red pepper on top.

Always add fresh basil after it comes out of the oven if you’ve got it!

Hungry yet? Here’s a Margherita Pizza to get you started! Also be sure to check out my Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Pizza too!

Margherita Pizza

A simple preparation of classic flavors is always a huge hit.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian

Equipment

  • Parchment paper
  • Half-sheet pan or metal pizza pan (see notes below)

Ingredients
  

  • 1 portion pizza dough, stretched to 8-10 inches
  • 2-3 tbsp tomato/pizza sauce
  • 2 oz fresh mozzarella, torn
  • 3-4 whole basil leaves

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven with metal pan inside to 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes- 1 hr.
  • Stretch dough by hand to 8-10 inches (thin but careful not to tear it) on a piece of parchment paper. Top with 2 tbsp or so pizza sauce, swirling with a spoon. Tear fresh mozzarella and place evenly across the pizza.
  • Carefully, remove the hot pan from the oven and slide the parchment with prepared pizza directly onto the pan. Bake 8 or so minutes or until crust and cheese are bubbling.
  • Allow pizza to rest 1 minute before topping with fresh basil leaves. Slice and enjoy.

Notes

For the dough, I make Roberta’s Pizza Dough (NY Times Cooking recipe), but you can use another recipe or store-bought dough. If using Roberta’s recipe, I make the standard recipe into 4 pizzas.
For sauce, I use Don Pepino’s pizza sauce (available in a can), but you can make your own or use another brand.
The method that works best for me is to prep the pizza on parchment paper, then slide it with the paper onto the preheated metal pizza pan. Alternatively, use a pizza stone with cornmeal to prevent sticking.
Keyword basil, mozzarella, pizza, tomato