Last month a little packet of delicate Japanese Brown Beech Button Mushrooms came in my CSA box. Fortunately there was a recipe for a flatbread using the little rascals. I modified it slightly into a pizza using what I had on hand. This was a total success! Even G ate the mushrooms (unknowingly)!

Of course you can make this with any kind of mushrooms you have on hand! Just wipe any dirt off and slice first depending on their size.

All you need:

1 tsp olive oil
2 c Japanese Brown Beech Button Mushrooms
1/2 small onion, chopped finely
pizza dough (I used Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat)
2-4 TBSP pesto sauce (also used TJ’s here)
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese
OPTIONAL: 3-4 fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. Cut mushrooms off base. These mushrooms are so tiny they don’t need to be chopped. Mine were clean w/out dirt on them so I just cut the base off so that they were all separate & free individuals!

3. Heat olive oil in a skillet at medium. When oil is hot, add onions & mushrooms. Stir frequently cooking until onions are slightly soft, for about 2-3 minutes.

4. If you’re using a pizza stone, prepare as you normally would for a pizza. I used a cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil and then sprinkle corn meal on top of the oil.

That prevents the pizza dough from sticking plus it gives a nice texture to the bottom of your crust.

5. Place rolled or stretched dough onto cookie sheet (or pizza stone).

6. Spread a few spoonfuls of pesto (either homemade or pre-made) over the top of your dough, leaving 1/2″ at the edge.

7. Add mozzarella cheese, then the mushroom/onion mixture following by a sprinkling of grated parmesan (to your taste!)

Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted & golden. Sprinkle fresh torn basil on top!

Slightly adapted from Steamy Kitchen.

Last night we got home from a few weeks visiting family & the beach in the Carolinas. I noticed the South has very little respect for those trying to practice a vegetarian diet or any kind of diet! OK. That’s unfair. We were in a pretty touristy place with amazing seafood so it was my own fault.

Anyway, when we got home I was looking forward to a) seeing my garden and b) eating something from my garden. I found this pizza recipe on http://www.bakedbree.com and didn’t expect much from it but MAN oh MAN was it good!

It’s really easy too…

INGREDIENTS:
- pizza dough (I bought whole wheat pre-made from Trader Joe’s which was yummy)
- pesto (fresh is always best but I used some Trader Joe’s from a jar since I didn’t have time to make any)
- mozzarella
- tomatoes – either cherry tomatoes or 3 or 4 smallish tomatoes. The original recipe recommends Roma but I used my heirloom variety from my garden and I went for green, yellow & red for color.
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 c parmesan (I used pre-grated from Trader Joe’s – don’t overthink this too much. I didn’t.)
- 1/2 c corn (I used fresh which I just cut from about 2 ears but if you can’t get it use frozen.)
- basil (just enough to tear & sprinkle on top when the pizza comes out of the oven)

First: preheat oven to 450. NOTE: this is not a smart thing to do when it is hot out. But this IS a summer pizza. Does that mean you should make it in the summer or that your house will feel like it’s summer when you make it? For me both were true.

It was so exciting to find these in the garden when we got home! These are the tomatoes I ended up using.

Slice the tomatoes as thick or thin as you’d like on a pizza and sprinkle with salt & fresh ground pepper. Leave for about 20 mins. I just left them on the cutting board. But then of course I needed that same cutting board again for the cheese. But knowing me I’ll probably do that again next time!

Meanwhile, if you bought pre-made dough, take it out on a lightly floured surface and let it “rest” for about 20 minutes. Since you are waiting on the tomatoes anyway you can now work on the corn.

Slice the corn off about 1.5 to 2 cobs. Mix in bowl with the sugar & parmesan cheese.

Look at timer to see how much time you have. Run out back to turn off the sprinklers. Totally forget about the pizza, oven, tomatoes & resting dough and start talking to the neighbor about how to make mimosas. Hear a child screaming herself awake from nap, remember the pizza, oven, tomatoes and resting dough. Run back inside.

When 20 mins are up – stretch or roll dough. I actually gave it a few tries up in the air, Italian style but I got too nervous, knowing full well how long it’s been since the kitchen floor was scrubbed. Place on a lightly greased pizza stone or if you don’t have one, a cookie sheet.

Spread thin layer of pesto atop the dough. (I was an English major so I like to say things like “atop” when I can.)

Slice mozzarella and place on top of pesto. Then add tomatoes. Next time I might put the corn under the cheese & the tomatoes on top but I’m not sure why. Just to say I did it.

Finally, spoon corn mixture on top. (At least that’s what I did.)

And pop in oven for 15 minutes. Make sure your oven was at 450 before you put it in!

Yum!

Save some for Daddy…