Thursday, March 8, 2007

Roasted Winter Vegetable Pesto Pizza

When I roasted winter vegetables (onion, turnip, rutabaga, and sweet potaotes, I think) with apple chunks and herbes de provence last week, I roasted wayyyy too many veggies/apples total. So I had my husband, who cleans up after dinner since I plan and make dinner, put the leftover roasted veggies in a baggie in the freezer.

Two nights ago when we were hungry and in a hurry, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees F while I defrosted the veggies/apples and defrosted an already-made & baked whole-grain pizza crust. I spread pesto on the pizza crust, then tossed sundried tomatoes (which I always have in the fridge, stored in oil) on top. I sprinkled on a little leftover mozzarella on there with a few pine nuts for good protein. Then I dumped on the roasted veggies and chopped up some soft goat cheese into bits to fling here and there on the pizza. I love goat cheese bits on pizza because they provide a very rich flavor without the pizza being entirely coated in cheese.

I baked the pizza for about seven minutes, and we were ready to eat!

We loved the end result of the slightly bitter veggies with the sweet apples and sweet potatoes, the savory flavor of the cheeses, onion, and pine nuts, and the intensely rich, sweet bits of sun-dried tomato.

It’s a meal too high in fat and calories to eat regularly, but a meal similar to this is a great occasional treat. I used to make us personal-pan style pizzas, but I realized we eat less if we are slicing pieces off of a large pizza than we do when we eat have a “mini” pizza of our own.

pizza.jpg

11 comments:

Jayne said...

Looks so YUMMY! Thanks for the links to your suggestions for mind games to work through cravings. I'm going to put some of those into practice!

Marathon Someday said...

Oh, that looks fabulous! Pesto would be a yummy spread on that type of pizza too. And I looove goat cheese, especially with oven-roasted veggies.

you're quite the chef!

Chris H said...

YUM! but take out the pumpkin for me, it makes me chuck! lol

Sally JPA said...

:-), :). lol.

Sonya, I unfortunately have not been able to eat tomato sauce for about two years. (I am gradually adding stuff back now.) So pesto has been a dear thing to my heart!

Chris, you crack me up. No pumpkin, just sweet potatoes.

TrixieBelden said...

that looks delish!

PearShapedGirl said...

Yum! Veggie, that pizza looks like something I'd order in a fancy schmancy restaurant!

I also wanted to tell you how happy I was to hear that AC was found guilty!! I was telling my own husband about the ordeal, since it made me worry about him (slightly, um, excessively). It's a great victory for you and Dan, though it wasn't exactly much of a chance on the driver's side...

Take care and have a great weekend!
-PSG

celtic_girl said...

Yummo on the pizza. Have you ever thought of writing you rown cookbook? Also a huge congratulations on the court case, I'm glad you have gotton some satisfaction.

TitanThirteen said...

Your recipes are always so delish sounding!
I like vegie recipes that are filling. Most of them leave you hungry 1/2 hour after eating them!

Congrats on the court case! And the fact that it's all over.

Grumpy Chair said...

That sounds and looks so good. Friday we usually order pizza (kids and hubby eat) while I suffer through with a Lean Cuisine cardboard pizza.

I think, I might have to make this for myself.

Unknown said...

That does look very good. I bet it might have even been good without the pesto, just the cheese and veggies (more bruchetta-like) if you wanted to scrape a few calories off. But I bet it was wonderful.

I am glad that the reckless driver (what a string of offenses, something is seriously wrong) got a stiff sentence and I hope that the damages that you get in the civil case cover your husband's medical bills and also some compensation for what this accident did to both of you.

Sally JPA said...

Trixie, thanks.

Pear, we are so relieved that part of our ordeal is over.

Celtic, I've had several people ask me lately about cookbook writing. I am thinking about making videos to post on the web about how to make some simple, healthy, seasonally appropriate meals.

Cactus, having a good amount of protein in any meal is important for it to keep you filling. Veggies alone burn through our bodies pretty quickly.

Grumpy, if you make it, please let me know how it goes. I would choose our homemade pizzas over almost any order-in pizza out there these days.

Jen, thanks. I think the recipe would probably work well without the pesto as long as you put something on there to keep it from being too dry. As far as the driver goes, we got the settlement we wanted in the civil case, fortunately.