June 10, 2020
Summer has definitely arrived in Ohio. Flowers are in bloom. The leaves on trees are greener than ever. Businesses are almost back up to full capacity. Even the herbs by my windows are growing wildly. Okay, maybe not wildly, but the herbs have made great progress in growing during the last few months. I’ve been using all of the herbs as much as I can in almost all of the meals I cook each day. I had to get another cilantro plant because the one I had at home started flowering. It may be from lack of care or it may be from too much care. I believe it’s the latter as Kevin has become obsessed with caring for the herbs. He seems to have an internal clock reminding him to water the herbs every other day. I also had to get another basil plant because the one I had wasn’t growing fast enough to meet my cooking needs. Surprisingly, even after multiple rounds of harvesting for homemade pastas, the basil plant continues to sprout deep green leaves. My thyme plant, a fairly new addition to my herb garden, has been the star of many chicken stocks and soups. I’ve even worked thyme into versions of savory oatmeal. The newest addition to my herb garden, a lavender plant, is not even close to harvesting yet. I’m excited for the lavender plant to grow out, so I can finally experiment with the herb in the kitchen. For now, let’s get back to the basil plant. This week, I noticed one of my basil plants on the brink of flowering. This was my cue to trim off some of the stems to use in some homemade pizza. I wanted to make a pizza featuring some of my favorite produce from the summer and ended up going with a barbecue peach, arugula, and basil pizza. My barbecue peach, arugula, and basil pizza starts off swapping out traditional tomato sauce with my favorite barbecue sauce. I then top the pizza with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, mozzarella, a few shakes of spices, peach slices, arugula, and fresh basil. All of the ingredients complement one another very well and made for the most delightful light summer dinner. Kevin, who is a notorious meat eater and would always prefer meat on his pizza, did not even miss the meat one bit. The pizza had everything we loved all in one place. The cheese adds a familiar saltiness. The barbecue sauce adds a smokiness. The peach slices add a balanced sweetness. The arugula and basil add a contrasting pepperiness. When combined together, the flavors were just magical. Kevin and I enjoyed the pizza in delight as we sipped some mango yogurt smoothies. We finished our dinner just in time to catch up on our favorite shows. One show we’ve been addicted to over the last month is TLC’s 90 Day Fiancé. We started watching episodes of the show randomly one Sunday night and became way too invested in the couples on the show. A month later, we found ourselves looking forward to new episodes of the show airing on Sundays. When the season finale aired last Sunday, we both felt a bit sad. I guess it’s time to find a new show to invest our time in.
For the dough:
· 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading the dough
· ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
· ¾-1 cup water
· 2 teaspoons olive oil
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the rest of the pizza:
· ½ tablespoon olive oil
· 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
· ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 2 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
· 2-3 ounces mozzarella cheese, hand torn
· 1 whole peach, pit removed and cut into thin slices
· 1 ounce arugula
· 3 sprigs fresh basil, stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
Directions:
1) Prepare the pizza dough at least 2 hours before making pizza. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine all ingredients. Gradually add in ¾ cup of water to the mixture. Begin kneading the dough. Gradually add more water, if needed. Add the two teaspoons of olive oil. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes directly in the large bowl or on a lightly floured surface. Drizzle the tablespoon of olive oil in the large bowl. Coat the dough in the olive oil and let it rest in the bowl. Place a sheet of plastic wrap (or a fitted plate) over the bowl. Let the dough rise undisturbed for at least 2 hours.
2) When the dough has increased in size and two hours has passed, preheat oven to 500°F with a pizza stone placed on the center rack. Place a sheet of parchment paper over a pizza peel. Divide the dough in half. Reshape both halves into a ball. Place one of the balls of dough onto the parchment lined pizza peel. Save the other ball of dough to use later (or right after). Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a large thin circle.
3) Brush on ½ tablespoon of olive oil. Add the barbecue sauce and spread all over the pizza dough in circles starting from the center. Evenly distribute the kosher salt, garlic powder, dried oregano, and freshly cracked black pepper all over the pizza dough. Distribute the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and mozzarella cheese evenly over the pizza. Gently glide the pizza and parchment paper onto the pizza stone and cook for about 10 minutes.
4) Remove the pizza from the oven once the crust begins to turn golden brown. Let the pizza rest for a couple minutes before topping with the peach slices, arugula, and fresh basil.
Takeaways: Other stone fruits and varieties of pears also work well on the pizza. Check out my food section for other pizza ideas (such as my BBQ pear, Gorgonzola, and onion pizza).
As you can see in the photos, I served up some mango yogurt smoothies alongside my pizza by blending together frozen mango chunks, homemade yogurt, and honey.