Gourmet Pizza

This is me not wanting to study for my midterms. BLAHHHHH!  I mean, I love school, I love school, I love school. 

Ok I'm done now.  Just had to get that off my chest.  On to more important things such as the fuel that keeps me going....GOOD FOOD!  So, living in Columbus, I have missed my Publix VERY VERY much, HOWEVER, now that I go to school in a town where there IS a Publix, I sometimes stop by there when I need a quick shortcut to make din din.  Last week this shortcut came in the form of Publix's amazing homemade pizza dough (found in their bakery).  I knew I had a bunch of stuff at home that I could put on this pizza, but I was also craving some other little goodies such as fresh mozzarella (I'm sorry, but the other stuff just doesn't compare) and an arugula salad to go on top.  Here was a picture of what it looked like:

I didn't do the step by step picture thing because honestly, this was a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of meal and I didn't know it'd turn out to be so good.  So, here's a list of what I put on it:

• roasted garlic (had some left over that I only used half the bulb for so I squeezed out the rest of the roasted garlic onto a cutting board, sprinkled it with some salt, and with the back of a knife, smeared it into a paste.  I then smeared this onto the pizza dough)
• fresh Kumato tomatoes (they look kinda purple but any kind will do)
• fresh mozzarella
• purple onion

**I put the pizza crust (after I spread it out over my pizza pan brushed with a touch of olive oil) in a 500 degree oven until it browned ever so slightly.  After that, I THEN put the above toppings on and stuck it back in the 500 degree oven until the cheese was melted- maybe 10 more minutes?

After the cheese was melted, I put on the following:

• chopped up prosciutto (I just happened to have this gourmet ingredient laying around- don't ask me why)
• an abundance of freshly chopped basil
• an arugula salad (literally- the best thing you can do with pizza is lightly dress arugula and toss it on top of a pizza- don't you dare disagree with me, Scott Mayo.)

How'd I make the arugula salad you asked?  With my newest obsession: reduced balsamic vinegar.  Reduced balsamic vinegar deserves a post of its' own, but we will settle with a few sentences about how incredible it tastes reduced.  If reduced enough, (and by "reduced" I just mean to put some of it in a small sauce pot, bring it to a boil, and let it cook down into a syrup), balsamic takes on a sweet, delicious flavor, unlike it's tangy original form.  I throw a pinch of sugar in with my balsamic as it reduces and oh.my.gosh.  I'll never go back to regular balsamic again.  Ever.  So, I took a bit of this reduced balsamic, poured some over some arugula, added a drizzle of olive oil, tossed it together, and placed this on top of my pizza for a perfectly balanced, healthy, gourmet pizza that rocked my world.  This dinner was WAY more than I thought it'd be- it was simply sensational.  And Kristi, if you're reading this, even YOU would like this pizza :)

Really, you can put anything you want to on pizzas, but I encourage you, however you make it, please try a salad of arugula (with reduced balsamic!) on top.  It will truly blow your mind.

Back to studying....

M