I’m going to start this off with an embarrassing but necessary confession-

At 35 years old, I am JUST NOW learning how to cook. Long story. Maybe I’ll explain in a future post.

I love good food, but for some reason, cooking just never made sense to me. I have this weird mental block that makes it difficult for me to understand most recipes. This has led to a lot of confusion, losing confidence, and a few emotional meltdowns over the years. The idea of cooking became associated with feelings of frustration and overwhelm.

But I’m finally beginning to understand that it doesn’t have to be difficult. I can still get all those great flavor sensations with simple foods.

Like pizza.

I made an excellent vegetarian pizza with basil paste the other night. And I’m going to share the recipe with you in a way that, if you also struggle with cooking, hopefully it’ll cover everything you need to know.

WHAT I USED:
– Pillsbury pizza crust. After “the great pizza crust meltdown” 5ish years back, I only use the refrigerated stuff that comes in a can.
– Gourmet Garden basil paste. It’s great in place of tomato sauce, etc.
– Marketside Super Blend. It’s a mix of various cut greens- brussels sprouts, napa cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, carrots and kale.
– Fajita mix. A small package of cut yellow onion, green bell pepper and red bell pepper.
– Italian style shredded cheese. It’s a good mix of mild white cheeses that go well with the basil. (Mozzarella alone is great too.)
– Olive oil. I just got the basic cheap stuff.
– Freshly ground black pepper. Always use the peppercorn grinders.
– Garlic powder. Make sure it’s straight garlic powder, not garlic salt. Big difference.
– A baking sheet. I have no idea what size it is.

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat the oven to 400 F (approx 204 C). Ovens vary, so expect the bake times to vary as well. Altitude also has an effect, so keep that in mind if you live at a high elevation. There isn’t a lot of wait time, so I suggest hanging around and watching your pizza bake, to be sure not to burn it.

Oil the pan. I would suggest using a brush to coat the pan with olive oil, but I didn’t have one so I used a paper towel. Set that paper towel or brush aside, because you’re going to need it again in a minute.

Roll out the dough. The dough rectangle is usually misshapen to some extent when it comes out of the can. Stretch, press, knead, caress that dough to fit the shape of the pan.

Oil the top side. Grab that oil spreading device you used previously, and lightly coat the top side of the dough you just pressed out.

Bake that dough. The instructions on the can said to bake it for 6ish minutes, but it took longer than that for me. You want to cook that dough until it’s hardened, but not yet browned. I pulled mine out when it started developing a light golden tan. It has now become your crust.

Leave the oven on. You’re going to need it again in a few minutes.

Spread the basil paste onto the crust with a spoon. You want to coat it thoroughly, but don’t let it get too thick because that sh!t is strong.

Sprinkle on the garlic powder to taste. Make sure you get it on the outside crust too, because it’s fantastic after the final bake.

Grind some black pepper to top off the first layer.

It should now look something like this:

Sprinkle on a light layer of cheese. Go easy, because there will be a lot of veggies on top of it. You want just enough to keep the two layers on either side of it together.

Add the mixed greens. I used the “Super Blend” above. Great stuff. Sprinkle on a good layer of it- not to where it’s piling up, but a good solid base layer.

Then the peppers and onions, aka “fajita mix”.

It should look like this now:

Add some more cheese. You can be more generous with it this time. Have fun.

Top it all off with a little more black pepper.

It should now look like this:

Hopefully you left your oven on, at 400 F, because it’s time to use it again.

Bake the pizza. The dough recipe said it’d be another 8ish minutes, but it was more like 13 for me. I like the crust a little crispy. So put your oven light to use and watch it bake until it looks good.

The final product:

Give it a try, then come back and let me know what you think. I’m curious.

I’ll be dropping more simple recipes occasionally, whenever I come up with something new. I’m aiming for a new dish a week, however I can’t guarantee it’s going to turn out well, so whenever I make something post worthy. I’m still learning.