Roasted Veggie Pizza

So, I'll admit it.  It's been bugging me that I haven't really cooked for myself at school as of yet.  Well, and the fact that I haven't had time to cook in general.  So I decided I was going to cook something real this week.  On Monday morning as I was sitting in my shared office at 7:30 in the morning, writing my shopping list for that afternoon, I vowed I would cook this week.  And it only took me till Thursday.  It seems like the work comes in waves.  Monday and Tuesday are like crazy-scramble-to-get-things-done-for-Wednesday days.  And then the pace slackens for the rest of the week.  Or at least that's the trend so far.  So, I guess it's not surprising that it took till Thursday.

So, there I sat in my office, looking at my food gawker favorites.  And I found this pizza.  This . . . grilled pizza.  Yeah.  I don't have a grill.  Nor do I know how to grill.  Dad is the grill master in our house.  And I don't know how grilled pizzas work.  Maybe someday I will.  Now was not the time to figure it out.

Anyway, I decided to run with the idea of the pizza.  I have some frozen pesto from this summer.  I love summer squash and it's the right season for it.  Red peppers and mozzarella cheese are always good.

By the way, it's a good thing mom made more pesto this week.  First, it's supposed to get down to 34 degrees tomorrow night.  That is remarkably and uncomfortably close to freezing.  Secondly, I am already almost finished with my first of two frozen pestos I brought to school.  Not good.  It's been less than a month.

Right.  Back to the pizza.  I wanted to make them on some sort of flatbread, and I knew I wasn't going to have time to deal with the dough.  So, I found mini-pitas that seemed to be just right.  They were still soft after being baked, so they weren't crispy like a tortilla or wrap would have been, but they were still nice and thin.  Good pizza base.

And then, after that, you just can't go wrong with pesto,

shredded mozzarella cheese,

roasted summer squash and red pepper,

and crumbled goat cheese.  It's impossible.

And, I got to eat the leftover roasted veggies as an appetizer.  Mmmmm.  I just don't understand what makes roasted veggies so good.  How does a little bit of oil and heat change the flavor so much?

Roasted Veggie and Goat Cheese Pizza


1 small summer squash, sliced into rings
1/2 red pepper sliced into strips
1 small clove of garlic, minced
olive oil
salt
2 mini pita breads
approx. 1 tbsp. pesto
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the squash, pepper and garlic clove in oil until it is lightly coated.  Add salt to taste.

Spread veggies on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Roast the veggies, flipping once, at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

Lay pita breads on a baking sheet.  Layer pitas with pesto, mozzarella cheese, veggies and goat cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.


I ended up fleeing the kitchen to avoid the fruit fly infestation.  Yuck.  Hooray for eating dinner while sitting on the floor of my bedroom.  At least after this weekend I'll have a chair to sit in!

But I still have a pizza left for lunch tomorrow!  (Unless, that is, the fruit flies carried it away while I was eating!)