Yum Peaceful Cooking: Pesto Nut Bruschetta and Pizza

Monday, March 15, 2010

Pesto Nut Bruschetta and Pizza


Remember that Garlic and Basil Pesto I made not that long ago? I mentioned that the next HBin5 bread assignment called for it, right?

YUM!!




Oh...in regards to the HBin5 Bread Braid....you can join any time. You don't even have to have a blog....you can just join to gain the knowledge and the knowhow and tap into the great wealth of information from the great bread minds that are involved. Not to mention the great leadership and organization from our fearless leader, Michelle over at Big Black Dogs.

Ok, now back to that pesto....well, it is the star ingredient of the dough for this part of the assignment and instead of making a loaf of bread....I made pizza and bruschetta

YUM!

Here's a picture of the ingredients


I can't tell ya how much or what to do with it. You'll have to buy the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day Cookbook in order to find out.

The only think I did differently was to cut the whole wheat flour in half and replace it with all purpose flour. It seems to agree with my taste buds a lot more that way. Oh...and the whole wheat flour that I use? It's white whole wheat flour....same nutrients as regular whole wheat, only it's made with the lighter colored grains. Oh...and for the pine nuts....I toasted them first. And I didn't measure the pine nuts or the pesto...but I'm sure I added more than the recipe specified. In my book, thats not a bad thing.

Have I mentioned that the authors Jeff Hertzbert and Zoe Francois have a blog too? Oops...so sorry. I should have. You can see a lot of their recipes and tips and instructions over at Artisan Bread in Five

Ok...so I mixed the dough and fell in love instantly...I mean...the aroma. The color.....the anticipation..


yep...it had me on the first rise

After it sat on the counter for 2 hrs, I let it sit in the fridge for a while before I started playing with it. I decided to make pizza first. And then I remembered something awesome that Bob over at Cooking Stuff did....


CHEESE STUFFED PIZZA CRUST.....YUM!!!

So I cut some cheese into sticks and filled the crust, then loaded it with some goodies, like...garlic alfredo sauce, chicken, mushrooms, slivered garlic, red onions, chopped fresh basil, spinach, goat cheese, mozzarella cheese and a little jack cheese (cuz I ran out of mozzarella)


Let's just say.....this pizza was AMAZING!!!


The dough was great to work with....the aroma was enough to put your senses into a state of food coma anticipation, and the flavor.....pure heaven.

The best part? Well....let me tell ya....

I still had some dough left. So the next night I decided

BAGUETTE TIME!! 



Have I said YUM!!! yet?

I had made a "not so Italian, more Sandra Lee-ish" version of Chicken Cacciatori that I prefer not to share here as it was....mmm....not my choice.

But

With this lovely Pesto Baguette, I made my first ever bruschetta.

I'm soooo in looOOOOooove!

I melted some butter and olive oil with some sliced up garlic and let that all cook until the garlic was starting to get brown but the butter wasn't burning.

Fine line there.

I brushed the baguette slices with the garlic butter and let them toast in the oven then sprinkled a little mozzarella cheese on each one and let that melt.

I chopped up some tomato, onion and basil....drizzled with a tad of olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

And topped each toasted slice with the tomato mixture


Let me just repeat myself.....again.......YUM!!

And you know what? I still have some dough left. And rather than making something new...I'm going to repeat the bruschetta. The whole combo totally rocked! Even Sir Sportsalot had a remark...

"....."Those" were really good!" (from the mouths of men)

21 comments:

  1. You have totally convinced me to go out and buy that damn book. I usually don't do cookbooks, but that bread looks just too amazing! And healthy, too. Have I said Yum yet? Yum! As soon as I am finished with the sweet potato experiments, I'm starting on bread.....

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  2. Okay, you win for the most mouth-watering entry this time around! Seriously, HBin5 bread made into bruschetta?!? That does rock!! Can I steal that idea immediately?

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  3. Ok, I am seriously drooling here.. Both your pizza and bruschetta look fantastic. Great ideas!

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  4. Danielle - You are the Bread Goddess... And that pizza looks like little wedges of awesomeness!

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  5. OH MY GOODNESS! Cheese stuffed pizza crust, it looks amazing!

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  6. Ohhhh... that pizza! And that bread! And the bruschetta! I don't know which to comment on first. I think I'm going to have to break down and get the book!
    Great work. Great photos!

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  7. both the pizza and bruschetta look amazing. Great idea to use the dough this way

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  8. WOW, looks like you had fun.

    I would have never thought to use the cheese sticks in the pizza crust! I'm making this for sure the next time I make pizza.

    I made baguettes too but I like yours better!

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  9. I loved this dough. Your photos are beautiful. I made pizza and rolls with it but as soon as I have some home-grown tomatoes I'm making bruschetta. Great job with this blog post.

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  10. Oh man, I'm all over all of that. I need to try that bread wicked bad.

    Thanks for the shout out. :)

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  11. This bread was definitely my favorite of the two as well. The smell put me in pesto heaven. Which general equates in my mind to actual heaven. Love the pizza! That is a fantastic idea.

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  12. Your bruschetta looks so yummy and the picture looks like I could just pick it up and eat it.........

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  13. That pizza looks stunning, loved the cheese crust. And bruschetta? Excellent.

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  14. Cathy - when it comes to bread...I have to have a cookbook. besides...I LOVE cookbooks. Speaking of potatoes...did you know that Idaho Potatoes is having a contest?

    Tara - please, steal the idea!! You'll love it!!! :)

    Mama Peck - Thank you! I'm making the bruschetta again tonight for dinner. nothing else...just bruschetta (it's that kind of night LOL)

    Shane - Thanks :)....and ya...the pizza was good. but I think I liked the bruschetta even betta

    FLB - can't beat stuffing cheese everywhere and anywhere :)

    Barbara - Yes, get the book. you won't regret it! :)

    Petra - It's such a wonderful dough...I can't imagine any idea not turning out great!

    Michelle - I really did have fun!! I can't wait to see your pizza!

    Bonnie - Thank you :) I wish I had some fresh tomatoes but I think the ones I bought were hot house? (they were on sale)

    Bob - Anytime dude!! You always have such fun things cooking.

    Joanne - oooh yes.....pesto heaven. If there's an air freshener in heaven....you know its pesto scented :D

    Femalechef - I wish you could just reach in and eat one...then I could get a second opinion :D

    Chris - Cheese crust pizza....its yummy! next time I'll have to add more cheese

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  15. Wow! The pizza and the bruschetta both look amazing. You have me drooling right now! ;-)

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  16. I bet this bread really does rock! Your pizza looks absolutely out of this world amazing.

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  17. What a great idea to make cheese stuffed pizza! It looks delicious!

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  18. What could be better than cheese stuffed pizza crust! The bruschetta looked great too.

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  19. What a great use of the pesto bread! I love your ideas, they are winners. I have some frozen dough in my freezer that may have to be pulled out for the pizza. Great job!

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  20. Oh. My. Word.

    That cheese stuffed pizza crust just blew my mind a little. I don't know why I didn't think of that before...

    Also, your toppings are all among my favorites. This pizza looks like a dream come true. :)

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  21. Awesome cheese stuffed crust. And everything else, too.

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