Saturday, November 10, 2012

Maybe the Last Harvest

It got into the upper 70s today, but was very windy, and we are expecting cold temps to arrive tonight.  We spent quite a bit of time outdoors with our grandsons, but I forgot to go pick the lettuce.  We did get the back yard rain barrel emptied.  We got the front yard one emptied last week.  I went out after supper in the dark and picked lettuce, kale, and a few radishes and carrots.  The grandsons would have enjoyed helping with these if I would have remembered.


I want to share a recipe that I made last night, using some of the tomatoes that were green when I brought them in to protect them from the freezing temps.  I made it last night, and this piece is actually one of the leftover pieces that I ate for lunch today.  Even though the toppings slid a bit, it was still good.


This is from the winter 2007 Weight Watchers five ingredient 15 minute cookbook.  (I don't know why the first letters of the words are not capitalized.  I just noticed that.)

Pesto and Goat Cheese Pizza

1 10 oz. Italian cheese-flavored thin pizza crust (such as Boboli)
3 T. commercial pesto
3 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
3/4 cup (3 oz.) crumbled goat cheese or crumbled feta cheese  (I used the already crumbled feta cheese Larry picked up for me.)
1/4 t. crushed red pepper 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet.  Spread pesto over crust, leaving a 1/2 inch border.  Top with tomatoes and cheese; sprinkle with crushed red pepper.
3. Bake at 450 for 13 minutes or until crust is golden.  Cut into 8 wedges.  Yield: 4 servings (2 wedges)

I collect cookbooks, and have been having fun getting out of a rut I had been in, and am actually using the books.  Still, I seem to rarely follow a recipe word for word.  Here are the changes I made to this one:

1. I got either a 16 or 19 oz. package of two whole wheat crusts, with no cheese in them, so mine was a bit smaller than the 10 oz.  I made up a mushroom pizza on the other crust.  They did not take the whole 13 minutes to get done.
2. I did not use commercial pesto.  I used some basil blended with olive oil that I had spread flat in a freezer bag this summer.  I broke some off without measuring it or thawing it out, and you can see that I just placed some here and there, rather than spreading it on, which probably would have been preferable, but this worked for us.
3. Two of the tomatoes I had were a roma type, but one was not, and it worked just fine in the recipe.
4.  I didn't measure the crushed red pepper, but just sprinkled some on.  I am not a big fan of hot and spicy food, but I loved this!  I was aware of it when I took my first bite, but it did not burn my tongue.

I'm glad it's raining.  I hope your weekend is going well.

16 comments:

  1. Yum! I love pesto and goat cheese and homemade pizza.

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  2. A pretty fine "final" harvest. Those carrots wouldn't have made it to the house around here!
    :)

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  3. Yum! We had a mild day yesterday, too. I spent the entire day out in the garden and neglected my computer. Probably a good thing, because I'll have all winter for that. ;-) Thanks for the recipe!

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  4. Hi Sue, It's gotten cold here today too - yesterday was 78 degrees! Quite a change. Your vegetables and your pizza look very good!

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  5. Saturday was indeed a beautiful day; I'm glad you were able to get out in the garden then. The weather has certainly changed this week! Your pizza looks yummy; thanks for reminding me I should check on the tomatoes ripening in the garage. They don't taste as good as the ones that ripened in the sun, but they're still better than what I can buy in the store.

    A belated Happy Blogaversary to you!

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  6. Pesto is one of my favorite things on pizza! Saturday was beautiful here, 60 degrees, but now it is below freezing with a dusting of snow. Time to get to all those indoor products.

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  7. The pizza looks good and healthy too! That is a nice last harvest. Nothing left here.

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  8. Thanks for the comments. I checked the garden a couple days ago, and the lettuce is still alive, so maybe there will yet be some more to pick. There are a huge number of larkspur seedlings that I need to get out when my back heals up. I have been using poor mechanics while feeding a student who is in a wheelchair, and also while doing other things at home. It was starting to feel better, but I overdid it, and spent today icing it and being careful to avoid the pain.

    We are having highs in the 50s, and lows in the 20s. It's hard for me not to be able to be out there gardening, but hopefully, my back will be good and healed so I can enjoy the spring clean up.

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  9. I love your BLOG!!!
    love the veggie gardening and the flower beds!!
    I too garden veggies and love to plant flowers and bushes that attract butterflies too:)

    I look forward to visiting your blog more often.
    Deanna @
    http://theheartshunger.blogspot.com

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  10. Yum! That pizza recipe sounds divine. So glad I found your blog!

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  11. Mmmm, now I'm hungry. That pizza sounds delicious! Especially with the homemade pesto.

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  13. Your pizza looks delicious. Your harvest looks great too. I hope you had a relaxing and fun Thanksgiving.

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  14. A nice harvest at the end of November is an unexpected pleasure any year. If we have a similar non-winter this year who knows how long you'll be harvesting something. Can't afford another winter because we nee some significant snow storms.

    I'm craving a homemade piece of pizza now.

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  15. Your harvest looks great. Our first veggie garden was a learning experience this year, not a total flop, but we certainly won't be living off the land just yet! That pizza recipe looks yummy!

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  16. Nothing like home-grown produce, especially tomatoes.

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I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.