Rustic Pizza

What do you do when you feel like having pizza for dinner, but when you look in the pantry – you do not have all the necessary ingredients to make pizza? “Order in!” is what several people would probably say. I decided to improvise and make do with the ingredients we had available. This turned into a great way to use up a few remaining vegetables we had sitting around.

We did not have yeast at home, so I decided to make the crust from a breadstick recipe. This gave the crust a thin, rustic texture which we enjoyed. Our oven in Tokyo is extremely small, so the recipe is tailored to fit a 9×13 inch pan.

Be creative with this recipe! Use the recipe as a general guide, but I recommend opening your refrigerator and using what you have on-hand for ingredients.

Rosemary and Cornmeal Pizza Crust (1/2 recipe – perfect for a 9×13 pan)

¾ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup corn meal

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped (or ½ tablespoon dried rosemary or your favorite seasoning)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons cold butter

¼ cup milk

1 egg white

1. Preheat oven to 400° F
2. Combine the flour, corn meal, baking powder, sugar, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
3. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
4. Stir in milk and egg whites to flour mixture.
5. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 minute.
6. Roll out into the size of your sheet pan(s).
7. Pre-bake the crust for 10-15 minutes or until the edges of the crust just begin to turn golden brown.

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Pizza Topping

2 teaspoons olive oil, separated

½ large onion, sliced

2 small Japanese eggplant, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 asparagus spears, chopped

2 thin pieces of pancetta, chopped (omit for vegetarian version)

1 can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Salt

Pepper

Grated cheese

1. Pour 1 teaspoon olive oil into a pan over medium heat.
2. Slice the onion and place into the pan.
3. Cook the onions until they are soft and golden brown.
4. Remove the onions from the pan.
5. Pour 1 teaspoon olive oil into the pan over medium heat.
6. Chop the eggplant, garlic, and asparagus.
7. Cook the vegetables in the oil just until they begin to soften.
8. Remove the vegetables from the pan.
9. Chop the pancetta and place into the pan which was used to cook the vegetables.
10. Cook until golden brown.
11. Pour the tomato sauce into the pan that which was used to cook the vegetables.
12. Add the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
13. Cook over medium-low heat for 7 minutes.
14. After the crust has baked, pour the tomato sauce over the crust.
15. Evenly spread the sauce over the crust.
16. Sprinkle the cooked onions, vegetables, and pancetta over the sauce.
17. Sprinkle grated cheese over the pizza.
18. Return the pizza to the oven for 10 minutes.

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Rosemary and Cornmeal Pizza Crust (full crust recipe)

1 ½ cup flour

½ cup corn meal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

4 tablespoons cold butter

½ cup milk

2 egg whites

The recipe for the crust was inspired by a recipe for Rosemary and Polenta Bread Sticks.