Just Pizza- My Hero
Here’s where Just Pizza comes into play. Sunday night has become “clean out night” in our house. Whatever is left in the veggie drawer from the previous week has to go, and I’ve decided that homemade pizza is my muse in this experiment. Just Pizza has been integral to this endeavor. I stop by the Elmwood & Summer location and purchase a ball of dough for $2. Wilson Farms is right next door, so I swing over and grab a bag of mozzarella. Then it’s off to the kitchen.
This week, I had leftover red, yellow and green bell peppers, a bunch of chives, grape tomatoes, and some fresh asparagus. First, I blanched the peppers and asparagus. Then, I topped my dough with ricotta mixed with the chives, plus garlic, salt and pepper. Veggies get scattered on top next, followed by the shredded mozzarella. Into the oven at 375° until the cheese starts to turn golden (it takes about 15 minutes in my oven). Then let the pizza set for about 5 minutes before you cut into it. It worked out really well for me.
My only problem was that I had some leftover dough. I happened to watch a recent Everyday Italian program where Giada DeLaurentis deep fried little balls of pizza dough in oil and immediately tossed them in a paper bag with powdered sugar to make donut holes. Not the healthiest recipe, but I’ll try anything once. I did, and they were awesome.
As I continue to search for ideas on using up my leftover produce, I’ll be sure to share them with you, but please, share yours as well!
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lauras
Do you think all Just Pizza locations sell dough?
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NorPark
It really doesn't get much better than a good fresh homemade pizza, we do one once a week, either a good white pizza or a good basic red sauce pie. I'm not sure what you cook your pizza on, but if you dont have one, you need to get a pizza stone. it cooks the pizza evenly and gives it a amazing crust. Just be sure to use cornmeal between the stone and dough, otherwise the dough will essentially fuse to the stone.
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NorPark
If you really want to make it interesting do your pizza on the grill. I have one that I do occasionally, basically a good bbq sauce as the base, a bullseye type, nothing too dark and thick. Then basically a nice mix of cheese, colby, monterey, chedder... top with some diced onion, jalepenos, and chicken, fire up the grill, throw in some soaked woodchips, put the stone on the grill over some foil so you dont blacken the bottom of the stone. About a half hour later you have a nice smoky bbq chicken pizza.
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Sundial
Pizza's an ingenious use of leftover veggies. A few other ways to use them up for cold weather is a nice noodle soup or in warmer weather, a stir fry. During the summer grilled veggies are so yummy.
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Metropolis
Mmmmmmmm...... Homemade donut holes........... mmmmmmmmmmm.....
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ChristaSeychew
One of my favorites is halved white peaches, grilled and then sliced atop a freshly grilled pizza crust with a dusting of goat cheese and a tiny drizzle of high quality honey or balsamic. Yum indeed! Thanks for this great post, Sarah.
I'm glad the market is tomorrow. It's too bad we'll have to wait a few weeks for a lot of produce, but there are still a ton of other goodies available this early in the season--smoked sausage, heritage pork chops, award winning yogurt, artisan breads and jams. See you there!
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critic
Sounds great, but... why are you cleaning out your veggies on Sunday night if your original premise was that you visit the market and half of your veggies are still in the fridge from the last week? You will still be unloading the new ones on top of the old ones. Clean out night should be the night BEFORE you go to the market, right?
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onestarmartin
i recieved a pizza stone as a gift a year ago, upon recieving it I thought would I ever use it? After the first time i have never bought a pizza anywhere since, can't beat a home made one! [never thought of grilling one! trying that little tip this weekend Norpark...thanks]
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chateaubuffalo
Fresh, homemade pizza is a wonderful thing. If you are going for grilled pizza, try grilling the veggies a little bit beforehand. Also, you don't even need the pizza stone for a successful grilled pizza. Just form the dough, lay it on the grill over low fire and cover for 60-90 seconds until brown on the bottom. Remove from grill, add toppings to the browned side and return pizza to grill. Cover and cook for another 90 seconds or so until the crust is golden.
And what better beverage to wash it down with than refreshing Dancing Buffalo Cidre? OOPS! It was supposed to be available at the Elmwood-Bidwell Market, but the market administrator (from Amherst, by the way) turned down the locally produced product (made in Buffalo, by the way). So much for the market's touted goals of marketing locally produced products and sustaining the local economy! Are politics getting in the way here again?
There's NO competition at the market to keep prices in check; one breadmaker (who obviously grows his own wheat), one flower grower, one bee keeper, one fantastic pasta peddler (who obviously grows his own semolina), one veggie burger grower, etc. You're better off shopping at Guercio's where the same products are available at competitive prices.
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lauras
Where can I find the market's rules? Interesting issue.
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lauras
Interested in becoming a vendor at the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market?
The first thing you need to know is that we are a producer only market. You must make or grow everything you sell—no reselling is permitted!
We also restrict the market to agricultural products and close relatives. In some cases, a product will be deemed to be close enough to the spirit of agricultural products as to be acceptable despite falling outside the strictest interpretation of agricultural. Such interpretation is completely up to the discretion of the Farmers Market committee.
http://www.elmwoodmarket.org/vendor_application.php
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GoldenLark
Lauras, I would call first and see if they're willing to sell you a ball of dough before you go. I've been to the Elmwood & Summer location a couple of times, and while one guy seemed confused that I wanted to buy "just dough," no one gave me a hard time.
NorPark, I have a great pizza stone I picked up at William Sonoma. I used it to bake bread, too. I haven't tried pizza on the grill yet, but my fiancee is fantastic with the coals, so we'll experiment this week!
Critic, seems silly to clear out the day after the market, I know, but Sunday I always get a kick of cooking inspiration. I have 2 produce drawers in my fridge, and I only allow myself to fill one per week. Sunday is my last ditch attempt to use up the previous week's produce in preparation for the next round.
Did anyone see the giant purple asparagus on Saturday? I'm making a savory asparagus and morel bread pudding this week. (If I can find morels.) Recipe online at http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/Recipes.html.
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vericarl
Quote from Lauras: "We also restrict the market to agricultural products and close relatives." It's good to see that nepotism is alive and well outside of city government, too.
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