Normally, Thursday night is wine night at our house. We cook something really easy and make the night about trying different wines. We have really started a bottle collection in our apt. We are actually running out of room. If you would like to buy an empty bottle of wine from us, I will take $5 a bottle. Any takers?
This Thursday night, we decided to make pizza, bruschetta and went towards the beer route. Beer tastes better with pizza anyways.
I wish that every night was Thursday night. Or that I could eat pizza and bruschetta every night..
Tomato-Basil Bruschetta
5 to 7 roma tomatoes, diced (depending on size)
1/2 cup red onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 to 3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (to taste)
coarse sea salt (to taste)
fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup basil, sliced into thin ribbons, plus more whole leaves for garnish
1 baguette, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (and up to a half a day).
Shortly before serving, heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the baguette slices for a couple minutes on each side. Divide the tomato-basil mixture among the grilled baguette slices. Garnish with additional basil leaves, if desired.
Sausage, Sun Dried Tomato, Zucchini Pizza
1 lb. pizza dough
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced into rings and halved
1/2 cup sausage, cooked, drained and cubed
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
a pinch of hot pepper flakes
a small handful of basil leaves, torn or thinly sliced into chiffonade
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 ounces fresh goat cheese
If you’re roasting the squash, preheat the oven to 425. Lay the slices of squash out on a sheet pan, brush them with olive oil on both sides, and sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast until the bottoms are brown, then flip and continue roasting until the tops have started to brown as well. This usually takes me about 20 minutes total. (Alternatively, you can grill the squash.) Set aside.
When you’re ready to make the pizza, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F, preferably with a baking stone on the bottom rack of the oven. Roll out your pizza dough onto a peel or the back of a sheet pan (dust the peel or sheet pan with flour or cornmeal first, or you can roll the dough out onto parchment first before transferring it to the stone.) Top with the shredded cheese, then the garlic, hot pepper flakes, roasted/grilled squash slices, sundried tomatoes, sausage, torn basil leaves, and onion rings. Top with crumbled goat cheese.
Bake pizza until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbling, about 8-10 minutes.
