Recipe: Bruschetta Pizza

Difficulty
Prep Time	90 minutes

One of the more complicated recipes I make, I had an "it came to me in a dream" moment and decided to make this instead of bachelor pizza. This is not difficult, just time-consuming. Depending on how fast you work, this may take you a lot less time.

This is a great recipe to have your date over for as you prepare and cook. You can talk as you prepare it and let them taste and smell various things as you work.

Important Note: For this recipe to really pop, you need to use the absolute best and freshest ingredients you can possibly get your hands on. Farmer's markets or the local yuppie specialty grocery market will make a noticeable difference. For Bruschetta Pizza I highly recommend using organic produce — just for the flavor.

Ingredients

1. French bread (from a bakery — or a bread machine)
2. 1 Large organic yellow bell pepper
3. 2 Large heritage tomatoes (or organic beefsteak)
4. ½ Large sweet onion (Vidalias or the like)
5. ½ cup olive oil (of course)
6. Mozzarella cheese
7. Parmasean cheese (the real stuff, not Kraft)
8. Havarti cheese
9. Sharp cheddar cheese
10. Fresh garlic (1 head)
11. Fresh basil (some stores sell it with the roots still attached — this is a good thing)

Preparation

Get out:

1. Ingredients
2. Cutting board
3. Large frying pan
4. Cookie sheet
5. Aluminum foil
6. Bowl
7. Sharp knife
8. Spatula
9. Large spoon
10. Cheese grater

Take the onion and remove the outer couple of layers while running it under cold water. Chop the onion very fine (¼" pieces). Place the chopped onion in the bowl. Rinse one of the tomatoes. Use the knife to cut out the top and bottom "core." Chop the tomato into very small pieces.

Take the yellow pepper and cut it in half going through the top and bottom. Cut off the green stem remains and clean out all of the seeds. Break off the inside parts — you'll be left with just the thick skin of the pepper. Chop it into very fine (¼") pieces. Place this in the bowl.

Take the basil and rip off leaves and rip them into small pieces until you have about 1/3 cup of ripped up basil. (This smells really good — you can show this to your date.) Place this in the bowl.

Take the head of garlic and open it by cutting off the top and bottom. You'll then be able to pull it apart and peel off the paper-like skin until you get to the small "cloves." Cloves are the pieces that are shaped like crescent moons. Chop up four cloves into the smallest pieces you can manage. Place this in the bowl.

Dump the chopped tomato, bell pepper, onion, garlic, and half of the basil in the frying pan along with ½ cup olive oil. Turn the large burner on to medium-low (3) and place the large frying pan on it. Stir (technically "saute") the mixture until the pepper pieces start to curl just a little bit. Then drop the temperature to simmer/low (2) and continuing to saute the mixture for another 10 minutes. (Sample at will — and don't forget to share).

Turn on oven to 350°F

Cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Cut the french bread in half length-wise. Spoon the fry-pan mixture onto the french bread. This is the pizza "sauce."

Take one of the other tomatoes and use the knife to cut out the top and bottom "core" (as discussed previously). Cut the tomato into very thin horizontal slices. Place a single layer of tomato slices on top of the bread and "sauce" mixture.

Grate the Parmesan, Mozzarella, and cheddar cheeses and slice the Havarti. Add the Parmesan (it doesn't take much, Parmesan is a strong cheese) then the other cheeses. Sprinkle the rest of the basil on top.

Place the pizza in the oven and cook for 8 minutes. Check it and continue cooking until lightly brown.

Trust me, they'll be impressed.

Good Luck!!!

- "Mr. Nice Guy"