Macadamia Nut Pesto Pizza

Making this pizza combines the basic bread recipe and the macadamia nut pesto recipe. We used the following toppings:

• large sheet pan (12" x 16" or larger) 
• 2 med sliced tomatoes
• 1/2 yellow squash sliced
• 1 sliced onion
• ~ 1/3 cup (or more) each of sliced feta, cheddar, and mozzarella cheese
• fresh and dried spices and herbs and chopped roasted macadamia-nuts  

When we make a full batch of bread, we use half of the dough for a pizza crust. You can also half the bread recipe and add fresh or dried herbs of your choice. Once the dough has been mixed and risen, slowly stretch the dough over a well oiled or buttered sheet pan. Next cover the dough with a cloth or damp towel  for 30 - 45 minutes. Then bake for 8 - 10 minutes at 400 degrees. We found par-baking the crust helps to ensure a crispy and crunchy crust.  Bellow is a photo of the pre-baked crust once it is out of the oven.

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Pre-heat the oven to 450 F. Next make a batch of the macadamia-nut pesto and pour all of the pesto onto the cooled pizza crust.

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Spread the pesto evenly and to the edges.

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Next chop and pile on the toppings. We put about 1/3 of the cheese over the pesto then all the veggies followed by the rest of the cheese, fresh herbs, and roasted macadamia-nuts.

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Put the pizza on the middle rack and bake at 450 degrees for 12 - 16 minutes or until crust and cheese have started to turn golden brown.  Bake the pizza directly on the oven rack if you want a super crispy crust. We often move the pizza to the top rack and broil the cheese for the last 2-3 minutes of the backing time. Keep your eye on the pizza and rotate it if you decide to use the broiler (it can burn quickly). Bellow is the picture of our pizza as it came out of the oven.

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Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Seeds

This is an easy recipe, and takes around an hour minus the cooking time of your pumpkin. Matt and I have started doing this on Halloween. Have fun!

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You will need:

• 1 small pumpkin 4-5 c.
• 2-3 diced large onions 
• 2 c. chicken broth 
• 2 c. milk 
• 8oz cream cheese 
• 3 diced tomatoes chopped parsley, oregano, & rosemary to taste 
• 1 Tbsp. salt to taste

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Start by turning on your oven to 325. Get the pumpkin, cut in half, de-seed, put butter and rock salt inside, cover with foil, and cook at 325 until soft and tender around 45 minutes to an hour. Put the seeds to the side to bake up after the pumpkin. Season the seeds to taste with spice and salt.

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Take out pumpkin, (set aside butter into a pot for the onions coming next) let cool, then take off skin, and dice up.

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Then add chopped up tomato, pumpkin, chicken broth, milk, cream cheese, and cut herbs.

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Bring to a boil on medium to medium high. After boil, reduce to low to simmer for up to an hour. At this point we puree the soup, and let it simmer at medium heat again for up to an hour. The longer the better. To make a good tasting soup, all the flavors must blend together. This takes time.

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As you can see this beautiful soup is so delicious, and worth the time. Yum!