Summer time means lobster season and what better way to celebrate summer than with some Lobster Pizza? Check out this week's What's Cooking.
Yields 1 Pizza
Ingredients
½ c (120 ml) Basic Tomato Sauce (page 21)
¼ c (60 ml) heavy cream
2 tbsp (17 g) grated Parmesan cheese
4 oz (113 g) cooked lobster meat
5 oz (142 g) oiled Pizza Dough ball (page 17)
Extra virgin olive oil
¼ c (105 g) Pizza Cheese Blend (page 20)
2 slices cooked smoked bacon, cut into ½ -inch (13 mm) pieces
2 tbsp (17 g) No Nut Pesto (page 80)
Thinly sliced chives, for garnish
Directions
Puree the tomato sauce in a blender or food processor until it is smooth.
Add the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese to a small saucepan and warm over medium heat to melt the cheese. Add the lobster, stir to coat all the pieces and heat gently to warm the lobster through.
Lightly grease a metal work surface and the palms of your hands. Place the dough ball in the center of the surface and press down evenly with the palm of your hand. Working with both hands, start in the middle and spread the dough out with your palms while stretching the outer edges with your fingers. You should have an approximately 12 by 8 inch (30 x 20 cm) rectangle.
Lift up the edge farthest from yourself and slide your fingers under the dough. Move to the direct zone of your grill and place the bottom edge of the dough at the farthest point from you and pull the dough toward you to place on grill. Gently lift up 1 edge of the dough with the tongs to check for color. When you see some color setting in, lift the dou gh and give it a quarter turn with the peel. When the dough is sufficiently browned on the bottom, but not charred, remove it from the direct zone and flip it over onto the indirect zone.
Drizzle with olive oil and brush the crust evenly. Spread the cheese over the crust, spoon the tomato sauce all around the pizza and add the bacon. Drain the lobster from the cheese sauce and reserve the liquid. Arrange the lobster around the pizza and spoon a little bit of the cheese sauce on each piece of lobster (just enough for a thin coating). Move the pizza to the direct side of the grill and rotate every 15 to 30 seconds to crisp the bottom.When the bottom is crispy, remove from the grill, drizzle the pesto around the pizza, garn ish with the chives, slice and serve.
Nut Pesto
Yields about 1 ¼ cups (170 g)
Ingredients
1 quart (0.9 L) water
2 tbsp (30 g) kosher salt
2 c (80 g) tightly packed basil leaves
1 garlic clove, cut into 3 pieces
½ c (120 ml) olive oil
¼ c (35 g) grated Parmesan cheese
¼ c (35 g) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Directions
Add salt to one quart (0.9 L) of water and bring to a boil in a medium saucepan. Prepare an ice bath to shock the basil. When the water boils, add all of the basil and submerge it. Cook for 2 minutes, drain and then put the basil in the ice bath to shock it. When the basil is cold, drain it from the water and lightly squeeze the remaining water out of it.
Put the basil in the cup of a blender with the garlic and add about ⅛ cup (30 ml) of the olive oil, just enough to get the basil to purée (add a little more if you need to). Add the cheeses to the blender and turn the blender to high, pour the remaining oil in a slow stream into the cup.
Remove the pesto to a sealable container and refrigerate until needed. The pesto should keep in the refrigerator for 7 days.