So whenever I visit the parents for the weekend, my mom always tries to pawn off her groceries on me. Like I’m a just-out-of-the-nest, starving college student or something. Never mind that I’m in my 30’s and fully able to grocery shop for myself. On a recent visit, I arrived back at my condo toting a wedge of Camembert, a bundle of asparagus, shredded Parmesan, mango salsa, and cut-up fruit salad. All courtesy of my mom. Not that I’m complaining, but sometimes I have to come up with ways to use things that I might not otherwise have sitting around. Case in point – the Camembert. I tend towards super-duper aged cheeses myself. Fresh, double cream cheeses are not really my thing.
When in doubt, throw it on a pizza
At least that’s my motto. A google search on camembert told me pears go well – so I figured Camembert, caramelized pears and the smoked chicken from the previous day’s indoor smoking debacle would go nicely. I thought a white sauce would be too heavy, and olive oil alone too boring. So another Google search unearthed a versatile garlic herb pizza sauce that I also used on pasta later in the week. Finally, I threw a little arugula on top – just cause I always wanted to do that. The result was damn tasty if I do say so myself!
Pizza
Parts:
Pizza crust – my standard Mario Batali
Smoked chicken – maybe 1/4 lb (see Smoked Chicken Indoors for more info. Otherwise, leftover rotisserie or roast chicken would be great)
White pizza sauce (see below – I used maybe half that recipe)
Caramelized pears (see below)
Camembert – maybe like 4 oz sliced thin (this is pizza people – use your best judgement!)
Arugula or some sort of lettuce – a small handful – this goes on AFTER the pizza comes out of the oven
I put it all together and baked at 450 degrees for 13 minutes or so on a pizza stone. Throw your arugula on top and serve!
White pizza sauce
(really – garlic herb infused oil – great as a pasta sauce too)
From:http://www.recipekitchen.com/Pizza/pizza21.html
Ingredients:
3 T butter
3 T olive oil
1 T white wine
1/2 t rosemary (I used fresh)
1/2 t basil (I used fresh)
1 garlic clove, minced
Steps:
1. Sauté garlic in butter and olive oil.
2. Add all other ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside. Can be refrigerated maybe for a week – bring to room temp to use.
Caramelized Pears
Ingredients:
1 pear – cored, seeded and sliced
1 T butter
1 T brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Steps:
1. Melt butter in saute or cast iron pan over medium heat.
2. Saute pears for a few minutes on medium heat
3. Add brown sugar and continue sauteeing to caramelize the pears till your desired doneness (I did maybe 10 minutes total).
4. Remove from heat. Salt and pepper (very important! don’t forget the pepper! freshly ground please!) to taste.
Yummy! I bet this was delicious, How sweet that your mom still is concerned abut you even though you’re grown and on your own!
This sounds very good! The smoked chicken , caramelized pear, and camembert are an excellent combination!
This is nice…savory with just a tad of sweet. And that white sauce would be good on anything. Nice!
Wow, what a great combo. I want some right now.
Oooooooh. I have a thing for pears…and pears with cheese and chicken on a pizza?! Oh, yes. I’m bookmarking this one. (Thanks for visiting, btw!)
Audrey
Mmm, pears and cheese go so well together. What a creative pizza!
My mom used to do the same thing – until she moved – last year. And I am 58….
Your pizza looks really tasty.
It sure looks tasty! And it sounds half-way healthy to boot.
gotta love moms 🙂
This pizza looks awesome! I love using unconventional “pizza” flavors, and the caramelized pear and camembert sounds perfect together!
Very unique pizza. Sounds tasty.