Dirt Road Mama: Summer Dinner Part 1: Pesto Pizza

Dinner in the summertime is a different breed of cookin'. It just is. It's fresher, greener, colder, lighter, and quicker. This may just be summer meals in my house, but I find it to be very true. I don't want to be roasting and sweating in front of the oven, I want to be roasting and sweating under the sun. Let's get things straight here.

So I bring you, Summer Meal Part 1 of 2. Even though we had both things in one night. I'm separating the recipes to keep things orderly. These meals are easy, I tell ya. Easy and delicious. As in, I would have them once a week. If I was one of those people who had the same meal every Monday or something, this might be a Monday meal.

But I could never be one of those "every Monday is pasta, every Tuesday is meatloaf" people. I fly by the seat of my pants. It's how I was raised. Variety in your diet! Variety and moderation and deliciousness.

So...Pesto Pizza. Begin with your favorite already made dough. If you live near an amazing pizza place, like I used to on Long Island, you would go there and ask them for some dough. Otherwise, your grocery store should have some in your freezer section. I happen to be obsessed with the dough that a market near me has, so I used that.

Work the dough. Knead the dough. Love the dough. The key to pizza making - let the weight of the dough stretch itself out. Once it gets loose, don't keep pulling and tugging. Move the dough from fist to fist, and let it pull itself down.

If you have a pizza stone, use that. I need a pizza stone. Ahem. Hubby. Christmas. Hint. Wink.

Anyway, I used a regular baking sheet, lightly greased.

Lightly brush the dough with EVOO. Very lightly!

Then, spread on a generous amount of pesto sauce. Fresh basil from the garden = heaven.

[Don't know how to make pesto?! Let's learn in 30 seconds. It's so easy. No cooking. GO.
2 cups (or 1 bunch from the store) fresh basil, 1/2 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese, 3 cloves garlic, 3 TBl. pine nuts, 1/4 cups EVOO. Blend in food processor OR blender. That's it!

Don't go crazy with amounts - throw in more oil if you want it less thick, add more cheese if you love it, less garlic if you hate it...roll with the pesto.]

Then, add tomatoes, sliced very thin.

Add fresh mozzarella, also sliced thin. Can use shredded as well.

Throw on some grated Romano as well, for kicks. And because it's heavenly.