Irresistable Italian food!

I like to eat different types of food and I get easily bored when I eat the same stuff repeatedly when I go to a restaurant. Most restaurants have a standard menu and over time it gets monotonous...
This often happens when I want to eat pizza..I love pizza and pasta....but most restaurants in Chennai offer them with a tomato base. So I decided to try something different at home, with a basil pesto. Some day I would like to make the pizza from scratch, but for now I used a ready made Pizza base. Using basil pesto as the base, I made the pizza and pasta.

Basil pesto is best when used fresh. You may also store it in the fridge for about five days. Remember to use an airtight container, and coat the pesto with olive oil.

Pizza Gardenia (Tarla Dalal)



For the vegetable topping-
1 red pepper (Tarla says sliced, but I prefer cubed)
1 green pepper, cubed
1 zucchini, sliced
1 onion, cubed
1 eggplant, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

I also used one yellow pepper

Other ingredients

1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

To prepare the vegetable topping -
Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan, add all the remaining ingredients and cook over a high flame, stirring continuously till the vegetables are slightly browned. remove and keep aside.

Place one pizza base on a greased baking tray.

I always use a parchment paper for my tray when I bake pizza

Spread half of the pesto on top of the pizza base. Top with half of the roasted vegetables and mozzarella cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for ten minutes.

As I mentioned earlier, I tried making pasta using the pesto...it turned out quite well..

2 1/2 cups cooked penne
1/2 cup basil pesto
2tbsp Olive oil
2tbsp grated cheese

Heat oilve oil in a pan. Add pesto. Fry for a few minutes until cooked. Add the cooked penne. Cook till the pesto coats the pasta. Add grated cheese. Simmer until the cheese melts.