This may be the most wonderful thing I’ve ever tasted!
| Ingredients: | ||
| 1 | Recipe | Pizza Dough |
| 1/2 | Head | Garlic |
| 8 – 12 | Ounces | Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese |
| 1 | Recipe | Basil Pesto |
Equipment Needed
- Heavy Pizza Stone
- Mortar and Pestle
Prep
- Place the oven rack as close to the bottom as possible. Place the pizza stone on the rack and preheat to 550°F for at least an hour.
Garlic Oil
- Take the cloves from 1/2 head of garlic and peel them. Remove the hard ends, any green interior parts and any discolored parts.
- Grind in a mortar and pestle along with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt until completely liquefied (you may need to add a little more salt to do this).
- Add approximately 1/2 cup of olive oil, mix and taste
- If it’s too salty, add more oil, if it’s not salty enough, adjust to taste
- Pour into a small covered jar and refrigerate until needed
Cooking
- Generously sprinkle corn meal on a Pizza Peel, stretch dough and place on peel
- Lay down a layer of Mozzarella, then using your fingers or a brush, sprinkle drops of the garlic-oil all over the top of the pizza.
- Do not add the pesto at this time. It’s too delicate to withstand the heat.
- Bake until the crust is light brown and the cheese has just started to brown. This shouldn’t be cooked as much as a pizza with tomato sauce because the garlic is delicate and will easily burn and become bitter.
- When you remove the pizza from the oven, let it cool for a minute, then generously sprinkle pesto over the surface with a spoon.
Notes
- Store the extra garlic oil in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a lid
- Store the extra pesto in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a lid. Before refrigerating, gently pour a thin layer of olive oil on the top of the pesto. It will keep it from discoloring due to contact air.
