Oh how I love a good pizza. Something in the process of its making fuels togetherness, collaboration, thoughtfulness, and freewheeling flavor play. All things I adore. I also harbor the sneaking suspicion that pizza makes everything better. Breakup? Pizza. Hard day at work? Pizza. Great day? Pizza! Case of the sads? PIZZA. Is pizza ever not the answer?
This little Green Goddess Pesto number is the pizza solution multiplied by Life-Changing Pesto and exponentiated via the spring wonder of freshly shelled peas and ribboned baby zucchini squash. Finished with lemon, chile flakes, and feta, and BOOM you’re in pizza nirvana.
I’d also like to make the case for two things: 1) Making your own pizza dough, and 2) making pizza (dough and all) as a cure for loneliness. I just returned home from 10 days packed with family and friends and sunshine and petting backyard chickens (no really!)—and though it felt good to walk through my own front door, it also felt a little…lonely.
I’ve been thinking about getting more personal here on the pages of Kale & Caramel, and sharing with you some of the joys, trials, and travails of life as a single 31 year-old. Does that sound fun? Sexy? Snazzy? Snarky? Yay? Nay?
Regardless, we begin here: An empty house that doesn’t quite feel like a home. So much of the time I spend in the kitchen is a cure-all for loneliness, a spell cast to invoke comfort and saneness, and a way for me to bring others into the house to share food with me.
Mixing yeast, warm water, olive oil, and salt for pizza dough is one of my favorite incantations to stave off the blues of singledom. The sweet process of kneading (aka therapy), watching the dough rise, punching it down (who doesn’t love a good punch), and spreading it out as a blank canvas is one of the easiest and most fulfilling kitchen tasks around.
If you’ve got a couple hours, you’ve got all you need to make your own pizza dough. I love this recipe from Mark Bittman.
So what do I do when loneliness beckons? Stare it straight in the face and tell it that this showdown is won by the wildest woman in the west, and that woman is me. And then make a goddamn fantastic pizza. Isn’t that what you do, too?
This one is Green Goddess perfection: A rich layer of vibrant green pesto, the brightness of fresh lemon, peas, and summer squash, and a surprise punch of chile to round out the tang of feta cheese. I could eat it for days (and ps, it keeps super well for lunch or breakfast the morning after!).
Find the recipe on this week’s Intuitive Eating with Kale & Caramel on Sonima.com, where I speak on the subject of tenderness. Yup: All the feels in this third week of May. Spring hugs to you!
GREEN GODDESS PESTO PIZZA WITH FRESH PEAS & FETA.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pesto
- 2 bunches basil leaves removed (about 8 cups, loosely packed)
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1 clove garlic roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Pizza Toppings
- 1/4 pound English peas shelled (about 1/2 cup of shelled peas)
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 small zucchini
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
Instructions
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If you’re making your own pizza dough, start at least two hours in advance of when you want to make your pizza. Once it’s finished, store in a plastic bag or under a damp towel. I used this recipe, halved, or you can purchase pre-made.
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Preheat oven to 500ºF.
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Set up colander in sink. In a large stock pot, bring at least 3 inches of water to a boil. Blanch the basil in the boiling water for about 15 seconds. Drain water and blanched basil in colander, and immediately rinse with cold water until basil is cool. Squeeze out water. You’ll have about 1/2 cup basil.
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Place basil in food processor or blender with 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, garlic, and pine nuts. Blend until largely broken down and textured as you wish, adding a tablespoon of water if needed. Remove from processor or blender and place in a small bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup olive oil and set aside.
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Wash and dry your small zucchini, cut off the ends, and shave lengthwise with a vegetable peeler or mandoline. Place ribbons in a small bowl, and toss with lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, chile flakes, and olive oil.
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Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, and sprinkle with cornmeal to prevent the pizza from sticking.
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Roll or hand-spread the pizza dough ball into the shape you like. The crust should be very thin, about 1/4 inch. Leaving a 1/2-inch perimeter at the edge, spread pesto in an even layer. Top with zucchini ribbons, shelled peas, and crumbled feta. Add a final drizzle of olive oil and another sprinkle of sea salt.
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Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on desired level of crust crispness.
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Serve immediately. This pizza is also extraordinarily delicious reheated the next day.