White Pizza with Arugula

One of my favorite 'farm dinners' is white pizza with arugula! I will take any cheese we have around the house,dough,  herbed olive oil, make a pizza and top it with arugula! To add even more flavor this year, we got the BBQ Pizza Pan from Pampered Chef to cook it on the grill.

How to make this delicious pizza:

- If making pizza in the oven, place your pizza stone in 500 degree oven while dough is rising.
- I typically use store bought pizza dough from the refrigerator section. If I'm feeling inspired, which is more often in the winter, I will make my own. I let the dough rise for about an hour in a bowl greased with olive oil.
- While dough and pizza stone are prepping, make a quick flavored olive oil. Heat a half a cup of oil in a small sauce pan and add some garlic and whatever herbs you want. Hot pepper flakes are also a great addition. 
- To roll it out: spread your work area with cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking. Stretch it out in your hands first, then put on work space and roll out to desire size. P.S. there are no rules as far as the shape!
- The best way to assemble the pizza is to cook the dough for a min or two before putting ingredients on. If  I'm using the oven, I slide it on the pizza stone to get it slightly cooked.
- For the grill: Place the dough on the pizza pan, place on prepared grill for about 2 mins until you see slight char marks. Flip the dough over and repeat on other side.
- Either remove dough from oven or grill. Generously spread olive oil mixture over the dough and edges.
- Top with about 2 cups of grated cheese. This particular pizza I used Fontina, Cheddar and mozzarella. Parmesan is great too. This is definitely a personal preference!
- Spoon 4-5 dollops of fresh ricotta on top. Again, a personal preference but it's so good when you get fresh ricotta! If you are in RI or even the NE, you can get Narragansett Creamery Ricotta, which is to die for.
- Cook pizza for about 7 mins or until cheese is bubbly and melted.
- While pizza is cooking toss fresh arugula with olive oil and freshly ground salt & pepper.
- When pizza is done cooking place arugula right on top, slice & eat! YUM.

Pizza dough stretched and rolled out with cornmeal.

Toppings all set.

Cooking on charcoal grill.

Fresh arugula waiting to go on pizza.

Ready to eat!

Garden on Steroids!

Wow... from March 15 to March 22, we had unseasonably, crazy warm weather here in the northeast. That caused gardens all around to sprout out of the ground, spring flowering trees to bud, some to even flower and even tulips start to open. As a gardener, you may have been thinking it was time to start the spring clean-up. Well, that schedule got pushed forward! At least for me it did. Looking at pictures from last year, where my garden is now, it was April 15 and a little later. I had a tulip open this week, that didn't happen until almost April 20 last year! We have seen the weather stabilize to normal 'March' temperatures which will hopefully slow things down some.

Here are some pictures of what it is going on: 

The daffodils in my main garden, that usually look like this the first week or so of April.

Daffodils along our woods line that are mostly of the 'later' variety to open in May are all opening now! I do love their happy yellow demeanor out there, I just worry that I'm going to have nothing come May!

A look at all the perennials starting to come up, which is also food for the deer.

Pink tulips in one of my built in planters. These get very tall so likely won't flower for another month, but that's still a month before their May 13 opening last year.

Arugula I had to pick from the veggie garden! Seeds flew all over and it came up fast. I had to pick it before the veggie garden got rototilled. Yum! I love spring treats like that.

Finally, my quince just before it opens! I'm usually still forcing the flowers open at this  time of year. This is a bush that I have grown to love with it's pink flowers to go with my yellow daffodils!

From March 15, 2012

One of the things I started doing my first full season here, 2009, was taking pictures on the 1st and 15th of each month. This has helped me to see progress year over year, plus in that particular season how things are growing every 2 weeks. I wasn't as good about this, along with many other things, last season. I had worked so hard to get my gardens in tip top shape for my 40th birthday party in mid June, that I pretty much gave up after that. Yikes!

Last week I went out and took some pictures of the early growth. Looking at pictures from last year in early April, I think I'm pretty much 2 weeks ahead of the schedule right now. We've had an incredibly mild winter and this spring is looking the same for now. I did get out in the garden on Wednesday to start some early season weeding, prepping beds and cleaning up a few things that weren't done last fall. An area of my yard that I tend to neglect is the rock garden at the beginning of the driveway. I have wild berries everywhere that I'd like to get pulled out as best as we can. Plus just clean up all weeds and debris. Then hopefully maintenance won't be too bad.

The most exciting thing was planting some arugula & lettuce! For now in planters by the house until the vegetable garden gets rototilled. I'm hoping that's soon - a little ahead of when I usually do it. I'm ready to get some peas & spring onions out there! I have order most of my seeds. I might do an entry on that next week. In the past I've been fortunate that my Mom has worked at a seed counter at the Philadelphia Flower Show where I got all my seeds. They didn't do it this year so I was on my own ordering what I knew! Trying not to overwhelm with all the options.

Lettuce & arugula planted for early season:

Here are some pictures of a few of the beds in the early season:

 Happy Gardening!