Susan Nagle’s Favorite Pizza
Summer of Grilling: The Nagle’s, Big Green Eggs, Evolution & Meditrina
Sunday Night has turned into Pizza night at the Nagle’s and this pizza is the one my wife requests most often. It is our fire-roasted red pepper, marinated portabella and mushroom tapenade pizza, with fresh mozzarella and rosemary. We usually serve it with Sokol Blosser’s ultimate pizza wine, Meditrina.
Mushroom & Fire Roasted Pepper Pizza
• Roast your red pepper: Place on your grill. We used our Big Green Egg (Medford). Fire Roast the pepper at 650 degrees until black and blistered. Let cool and remove most of the black skin off the pepper. Cut into strips, discarding the seeds.
Check out this fire roasted beauty!
• Marinated Portabella: Cut Portabella mushrooms into bit size cubes. Place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh rosemary and salt and pepper. Mix and let sit for 30 minutes.
• Mushroom Tapenade (sauce): Quarter cremini mushrooms and sauté with butter, olive oil garlic and rosemary. Sauté just until your kitchen starts to smell really good, 1 or 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste if at all. Add mushroom mixture to a small food processor and blend into a fine paste. Add olive oil to get the spreadable consistency of a loose tapenade or pesto. Do not add too much olive oil. You want to maintain great mushroom, garlic and rosemary flavor.
• Assembling the Pizza: On top of your favorite pizza crust, spread the mushroom tapenade evenly on the pizza dough as your sauce. Spread the marinated portabella, sprinkle with finely chopped shallot or caramelized onion. Cut fresh mozzarella into round disks and place evenly on the pizza. Lay out the red pepper strips in a nice pattern. Sprinkle with some fresh, chopped rosemary.
• Grilling: We used Medford for this pizza. Heat up your grill to 500- 550 degrees and set up for indirect cooking on a pizza stone. Make sure your pizza stone is very hot before placing the pizza on it. Cook until the cheese is melted and the bottom of the crust is done to the crispness you like.
The Big Green Eggs: Right - Medford, Left - Mac
• Enjoy: This pizza is good everywhere, on any night, but it excels outside, with friends and several bottles of Meditrina!
Mangiare! Mangiare!
