The Good with the Bad

I suppose I should report on the unfortunate experiments with cooking as well as my successes.... The other night I attempted to make a portobello, red pepper and squash pizza. The recipe that inspired this only called for portobello, red pepper, shredded mozzarella and parm but I had a lot of extra stuff in my fridge that needed to be used... so improvisation occurred.

I used whole foods pre-made pizza dough.... which is absolutely not better than Boboli. The packaging and recipes will tell you to lightly sprinkle olive oil on the dough ... i used a marinade brush and thought i was going light... but it was way too much once i also added the oily sautéed veggies.

I decided to add tomato slices as a base to the whole pizza which turned out to be a good idea. I removed the seeds to avoid making the dough too soggy however i should have also salted the tomatoes first and let them drain a little. Then i topped the tomatoes with the sautéed veggie mix... the squash actually being a great addition to the initial recipe. I also used one red chili pepper and one red bell pepper. This didn't seem to affect the taste at all unfortunately. i was hoping for a bit more of a kick or at least that nice fresh taste the chilies give.

For the veggies i used way too much olive oil to sauté and then was probably a bit overzealous in adding the toppings to the pizza itself. The mozzarella and parmesan melted well and through some of the veggies which was a nice surprise. I think if i ever make anything similar again i will also add in a stronger cheese like fontina as well. This pizza also... naturally... needs more garlic, basil and oregano as well.

I am off to cook dinner for my third date with the new prospect.... the same one who took me to Indebleu. It better be a yummy dinner i guess!