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16
Aug
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Red Grape & Ricotta Pizza |
Cara, don’t tease me. Said with a look of seriousness by my dear friend Lindsay when I said I’d bring over one of her favorite meals – California Pizza Kitchen’s BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad – for a girls’ night in.
And why would I tease anyone when it comes to food? I’ve gotten myself all psyched up to eat my favorite dish at a particular restaurant, and after craving it for days, learned that they stopped making it. I’ve been promised by friends or family members that they’d make something in particular that I love, only to turn up and see that they decided to make something else (I suppose they’re allowed to do that.) I’ve seen gorgeous figs in the grocery store, and dreamed up a grilled pizza covered with ricotta and honey and figs and arugula, only to find that the figs were a fluke – never to appear again. There might be nothing worse than being teased by food.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about that pizza, so I had to find another way. Grapes! I wouldn’t go around substituting them in ever fig dish, but their sweetness certainly pairs well with salty ricotta and spicy arugula. And they look pretty too.
A certain husband of mind suggested something else that might make this look even prettier and taste even better next time: a drizzle of balsamic reduction all over the pizza. In that case, I think I’d toss the greens with just some lemon juice or champagne vinegar, a tiny bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Let me know if you give it a shot!
Red Grape and Ricotta Pizza with Honey & Arugula
1/2 pound whole wheat pizza dough*
Part-skim ricotta
honey
a big handful of red grapes
a small handful of chopped walnuts
a palmful of chopped fresh rosemary
Fresh arugula
balsamic vinegar (if you have something fun like a citrus or fig-infused vinegar, even better!)
Preheat grill to medium high heat and spray with nonstick spray.
Mix some ricotta cheese with honey, salt and pepper to taste. Wash your grapes, chop your walnuts and rosemary, and toss your arugula with the vinegar – basically, have everything ready to go!
Roll out the pizza dough as thin as you can, and carefully transfer to the grill. Cover and cook for a couple minutes, until crisped on the bottom. Use a large spatula to lift the dough and flip it over. Cover the pizza with the ricotta, then scatter the grapes, walnuts and rosemary over it. Close the grill and cook for several more minutes, until bottom is crisp and toppings are warmed. Transfer to a platter or cutting board, and top with the arugula.
Slice, serve, and savor your creation.
*I used store-bought dough. No shame there! I prefer to split it and just use half at a time, freezing the other half, otherwise I end up eating too much pizza at once. A 1/2 pound of dough makes the perfect sized pizza for two!
Why are there no measurements or nutritional information? Because it was the weekend. I wasn’t counting. Have fun with this!
I'm Cara, lover of creative, clean food and healthy living. Pumpkin, goat cheese, and eggplant make me swoon. I have an insatiable sweet tooth and desire to lift heavy things. 
Elina — August 16, 2010 @ 2:45 pm
Done – I'm SO making it! As you saw, I just posted a pizza recipe with ricotta and I love it as a topping (and I have a bunch left!). I am sure that the sweet + savory combo works really well here. 🙂
newlywed — August 16, 2010 @ 3:20 pm
I wish my husband would eat ricotta! I tell you, this anti-ricotta thing is crazy…the stuff is delicious!
Ashlea — August 16, 2010 @ 3:23 pm
This looks great. I have never had grapes on pizza!
TJ — August 16, 2010 @ 3:54 pm
That looks delicious- love the flavor combo idea of all of the ingredients together! YUM!My parents have 2 fig trees and I picked a HUGE bowl the other day…I would have shared with ya! 🙂 hehe
Kelly — August 16, 2010 @ 4:24 pm
Oh man, I just saw figs the other day and need them for a recipe this week so I definitely hope they are not a fluke! That said, I love the look of this pizza. I love cooking savory dishes with grapes. They are so fantastic tasting and the heat almost makes them burst in the oven.
Joanne — August 16, 2010 @ 5:31 pm
Figs have been elusive around here as well. It's almost as if they don't WANT me to eat them. Strange.This looks fantastic though! I second the balsamic reduction. YUM.
ChubbyNewlywed — August 16, 2010 @ 5:31 pm
Yuuuum! I bet this would also be really tasty with goat cheese… wheels in head are spinning.
Jennifurla — August 16, 2010 @ 8:08 pm
So different, I want it!
Maria — August 16, 2010 @ 11:43 pm
Oh how I wish this was my dinner!
Jen — August 17, 2010 @ 12:54 am
As always, this look awesome. I have some ricotta cheese in the fridge that I should use up for something.
Taylor — August 17, 2010 @ 4:14 am
I bet this would be amazing with some gorgonzola cheese sprinkled on top too! I love the idea of grapes on a pizza!
Dawn — August 17, 2010 @ 2:12 pm
I haven't tried pizza with ricotta yet but I've added it to the list!
belizabeth — August 17, 2010 @ 3:55 pm
I once saw figs in my local store, bought them, and most were bad by the next afternoon 🙁 I've seen a couple recipes for grapes and ricotta on cheese (usually involving a drizzle of honey on top), but I bet its even better warmed as pizza! Good idea.
grace — August 17, 2010 @ 10:24 pm
a drizzle of reduced balsamic? who is this man you've married? :)delightful combination of flavors, cara. seriously.
marla {Family Fresh Cooking} — August 17, 2010 @ 11:13 pm
Oh girl, I had to submit this pizza to Stumble Upon! It sounds amazing. Much better than anything you could get at CPK. You are so creative, love that 🙂 xo
Kelly — August 17, 2010 @ 11:16 pm
Oh and I forgot to mention, I'm not sure if you have/had my blog in your RSS reader, but if so you may need to update the feed. I didn't realize when I switched over to feedburner that my old subscribers would no longer be updated so just wanted to send out the FYI. I have the link to the new feed at the top of my blog. 🙂
Shannon — August 18, 2010 @ 3:51 am
ooh, this certainly sounds like a winning combination! yum…
Alexandra London-Gross — August 19, 2010 @ 12:20 am
Oh my gosh this pizza looks great! I recently had one with figs, caramelized onions, arugula and fontina. It was incredible! Alex @ ieatasphalt.com
Kelly — April 5, 2011 @ 1:14 am
Oh and I forgot to mention, I'm not sure if you have/had my blog in your RSS reader, but if so you may need to update the feed. I didn't realize when I switched over to feedburner that my old subscribers would no longer be updated so just wanted to send out the FYI. I have the link to the new feed at the top of my blog. 🙂
Jen — April 5, 2011 @ 1:14 am
As always, this look awesome. I have some ricotta cheese in the fridge that I should use up for something.
Jennifurla — April 5, 2011 @ 1:14 am
So different, I want it!