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ArcaMax Publishing > Home & Garden > Recipes > Robert Whitley Wine Tasting

"No Tomato" Pizza

Which Came First? The Pizza or the Egg?

As you can probably guess, I get a lot of email. Much of it you could term "fan mail." I love getting it and I am happy to answer as many questions as I can.

This past week I have gotten as much email on one topic as ever. I started by getting emails at a pace of 12 per hour from the time last Monday's column went out to readers. Then the pace picked up! This was all related to a simple column on hard boiled eggs. I was absolutely amazed at how many of you were willing to share recipes from your family traditions for how to hard boil eggs and how to make deviled eggs. The column also spawned a major controversy over whether new eggs or older ones are easier to peel. On this one I think I am going to make a correction to what I thought all along. Here's why: A batch of farmers (the real experts on this) explained the science to me, and convinced me that older eggs are easier to peel. I'll probably come back to that in a future column, but for now I have a much more pressing piece of email I wanted to share with you.

This one came just before the "Big Egg Debate" began. It's from a loving mother who's trying to make her daughter's pizza wish come true. There's a sense of urgency in her note that all of you with pre-teen daughters will understand. Read on...

Beth -- our daughter -- 11 years old, was taken to emergency room and diagnosed with acid reflux that evidently touched off something called Stridors. The esophagus tries to close and or spasms making breathing hard but not impossible. Soooo - 11-year-olds live and breathe pizza, ice cream, and mac and cheese. At least mine does! Solved the ice cream and sort of the mac and cheese but not the pizza since one of the biggest no-nos is tomatoes and anything acidic (like oranges and grapefruit). We have made MANY of your recipes together her and she just loves...your recipes almost as much as I. I promised I'd ask you for a recipe for white pizza that might work (here's possibly a new recipe topic for you?) and quote "Zola will figure it out Mom". It's great they have such an unlimited amount of faith at this age! I really appreciate your trying.

God Bless,
Claudia

Now, who could refuse a request like this one? Certainly not me!

I'm not sure I'm jumping to the rescue with the pizza recipe I'm going to offer today though. This may sound quite strange, but just by coincidence I had developed this recipe just a few days before I got this email. I was having a cocktail party and didn't have time to plan very well. My meetings went longer than expected and I had to throw something together really fast. I came upon this idea as I whizzed into the grocery store and grabbed a cart.

I decided to "decorate" a large piece of flatbread. A pizza of sorts. It just turns out that there is not a tomato to be seen on this "pizza." Right away I thought it might work for young Beth. That is if she's adventurous. Pesto is not something many young ladies would dive into, but I'm taking the chance that I have a budding gourmet on my hands and that Beth and her friends just might love this pizza. It's not a traditional "white pizza." There is a New York-style pizza "joint" right near my Chicago place that bakes up a beautiful white pizza. I've never eaten it. I have done a bit of research on white pizzas though, and it seems as though the sauce is a take off of an Alfredo sauce. I even found one with mayonnaise as a main ingredient. What I am going to do here is share with you my first attempt at a "No Tomato" Pizza. I would not call it a white pizza. Then I'm listing two pizza sauce recipes I found on the Internet that made sense to me for making a traditional white pizza. They both looked like they were worth giving a try, and I wanted to give the young lady more than one option. Because the other two sauces are not Zola Originals. I will not be posting them on the website so if you like the sound of them don't lose this email.

"No Tomato" Pizza

Ingredients:
One large piece flatbread or pizza crust (You can find the flatbreads in a refrigerated section of most grocery stores. They are usually Mediterranean recipes with or without garlic and herbs mixed in them. You can use your favorite pizza crust recipe or go with a pre-made one.)
One package Proscuitto (Italian ham) sliced into 1/4-inch strips. You could also substitute pepperoni for a more traditional pizza.
Pesto - Approximately 3 Tbl. prepared pesto. You can buy it pre-made in the grocery store or you can go to my website (www.dinnerwithzola.com) and get the recipe to make your own. This is a perfect project for young gardeners. They can grow the basil and then follow the recipe to make their own pesto. I say approximately 3 Tbl because it depends on how big a crust or flatbread you buy.
5 oz Goat cheese. (Don't let the name scare you! This is great stuff!)
One red pepper cut into small dice

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Put your pizza crust on a pizza stone or your flatbread on a large cookie sheet.

Spread the pesto on the crust. This takes the place of tomato sauce. You just need a smear. It does not have to be thick in any spot. Pesto is a flavorful ingredient. No need to go overboard.

Then layer on your proscuitto or pepperoni. Take the goat cheese and put little dollops of it all over your pizza. Then sprinkle on your red pepper bits.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until you achieve the crispiness you like in your pizza. I like mine crispy.

This is an incredibly easy pizza. It's fancy enough to impress and hopefully fun for young girls to make at a party. They'll know they are true gourmets when they have begun to eat pesto and goat cheese.

Now, if you like your pizza covered in a rich, white sauce, you may want to try this recipe:

Pizza Ware.com Pizza Sauce

Cheers!
Enjoy!
Zola



This news arrived on: 05/14/2007

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