Pizza Sunday! Roasted Veggie and Prosciutto Bacon Pizza

Turn those veggies that you saved from frost, into something delicious and yummy!

This recipe came about as a result of all of the veggies that I rescued about a week ago from the first freeze of the season.  I have red, yellow, green and purple tomatoes residing on my counter, and beans, cucumbers, mini eggplants and peppers in my fridge.  They are on the small side, and I wasn't sure what I would do with them until last night, when I decided to put some of them to good use.  Make your own pizza night!

I had an idea of making a caramelized vegetable pizza with crispy prosciutto, and roasted garlic.  First, I sliced fairy tale eggplants, and spread them on a baking sheet with a few cloves of garlic, and some whole tomatoes.  I drizzled them with olive oil, and added a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, thyme, salt, and pepper and roasted them in the oven until they were golden brown.

Once these were brown, I started to assemble my pizza.  I stretched out fresh dough on an oiled pizza pan, and sprinkled it with olive oil, chopped garlic, and thyme.  I added a layer of crushed tomato, added salt, pepper and freshly grated parmesean.  I had baked a few pieces of prosciutto di parma earlier in the day to make an italian style prosciutto bacon...which was delicious.  I decided that these smokey, crunchy bits would be great with the roasted veggies on the pizza.  When crisped like bacon, they have a  flavor that tastes smokier than regular prosciutto.

I tore some fresh basil leaves, and added the roasted veggies in addition to sliced marinated roman artichokes.  I covered them with another layer of fresh parmesean.

Next, I sliced some fresh mozzerella and layered it on top of the other ingredients.  Finally, I finished the pizza with olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper, and baked at 450 degrees until golden brown. 

I have found that if I bake the pizza on the lower rack for the first few minutes, the crust becomes nice and crisp, I then transfer the pizza to the top rack for the final few minutes of baking to get the cheese brown and bubbly.

Served along with the pizza, I decided to use a few other harvested garden ingredients to assemble a fresh, colorful salad.

Mixed greens, cucumber, yellow brandywine tomatoes, fennel fronds, chives, and purple carrots sprinkled with gray salt, and a fresh vinaigrette make this the perfect compliment to the smokey and rich veggie prosciutto pizza.

Enjoy.  Mangia!

Snack Time! Grilled Baby Artichokes with Lemon/ Lime Garlic Dipping Sauce

One of my favorite vegetables...the artichoke!  Or carciofi in Italian.  I first had this dish as an appetizer at one of my favorite restaurants and loved it so much that I had to try to recreate it at home.  Baby artichokes usually make an appearance in the wintertime, and come in both green and purple varieties.  I always look for the freshest looking ones at the grocery store with little or no brown on the leaves.

These tender mini versions of the prickly and time consuming larger artichokes, are much easier to prepare, as they usually haven't developed their choke yet.  You will still need to remove a few outer layers of leaves before eating because they can get tough and difficult to chew.  In the wintertime, I use my grill pan to grill the artichokes so they come out smokey and full of flavor.

To prepare them, I first trim off the stems to the base and remove the outer, tough leaves.  Then, I trim off the tops, and cut each one in half.  Sometimes I will scoop out the area where the choke is, depending on the size of the artichoke.

While heating my grill pan, I toss the halves with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and a touch of lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown.
  

Next, I grill the artichoke halves using the lid for pressure and to lightly steam them, until they have grill marks and become lightly browned and tender.

In the meantime, I make a lemon/lime garlic dipping sauce, using mayonnaise, lemon or lime juice, capers with a little caper juice, a chopped garlic clove, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a dash of smoked spanish paprika.

Once the artichokes are grilled, I remove them from the heat, sprinkle them with salt, and serve alongside the dipping sauce.  

And then I eat them!  Yumm!

These artichokes will save in the refrigerator, and make a great little snack.

Rialto Mercato and Pescharia

The Rialto Market is one of the most colorful, and inspiring spots in Venice.  Located on the other side of the canal, just over the Rialto Bridge, it is filled with fresh produce, a wonderful array of fruits and vegetables, and of course.....fish!  The produce market is open every day except for Sunday, and the fish market is open everyday except for Sundays and Mondays.  It is a great place to see what is in season, and to get an idea of the countless varieties of fish that are available in Venice.  I was grateful that I had a kitchen to go back to so that I could take advantage of all the wonderful things that I saw.  However, even without a kitchen, there were countless fresh goodies to choose from. Two of my all time favorites were in season during the month of September, fiori di zucca and fondi di carciofi, (zuccini flowers and artichoke hearts).  I just couldn't get enough of these delicious treats.

 

 Here are some of the things that I got.

 Roman Broccoil, Fresh Figs, and Sweet Cherry Tomatoes. 

All of the ingredients were so full of flavor!  

I made a bunch of yummy dishes with my items including roasted roman broccoli with shaved parmigiano reggiano, and this salad with arugula, figs, cherry tomatoes, shaved parmigiano, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Yum!