roasted red pepper cashew sauce.

this is pete's brother phil's fabulous red pepper sauce recipe! 

brother phil's got all the sauce knowledge on lock. he's also the one who first introduced me to chimichurri, which i love so much. both sauces are vegan and versatile and fantastic. 

this red pepper cashew sauce is delicious. it's similar to the texture of hummus and has SO much flavor. it can be enjoyed with veggies for dipping, on meats, in tacos, on sandwiches, noodles, etc etc etc! 

phil says you could also use walnuts, but i prefer cashews in this!

Roasted Red Pepper Cashew Sauce

Yields 2 cups of sauce

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• (1) 12 oz. jar roasted red peppers, well drained
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 cups cashews, roasted until fragrant
• 2 TB red wine vinegar
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 TB. Sriracha
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spread the cashews on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until warm and fragrant.

In a large food processor, add the drained red peppers, garlic cloves, and olive oil. Process until smooth. Add the warm cashews and process. Add red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and sriracha to the food processor and run until very smooth. 

The sauce should be the consistency of hummus. If it's too thick, add a drizzle of olive oil and pulse. Salt to taste. 

qp

lamb, pesto, burrata & mint pizza.

URGENT:

i've been yim yum yammering about this pizza for weeks now. IT IS SO WILDLY DELICIOUS.

the flavors are totally insane and perfectly spring!!!!

we made this thang 3 times within a week and then spiraled off and continued a binge of various pizzas for dayyyyys. sometimes that just happens somehow....you realize you've eaten pizza every day for like 7 days straight and you're like...how did i get here? cool. but yikes. 

(so in other words, this week has been salad central.)

but i'm not kidding this pizza recipe is REAL GOOD and i'm REAL PROUD of it.

we've been making our homemade pizzas with a pizza stone which i really believe is a game-changer for the crust. BUT it's been terrifying and high stress times when it comes to shimmying the pizza dough off the parchment paper and onto the fiery hot stone in the oven. so we got real serious about it and bought a pizza peel and now we're selling pizzas out of our back door. 

(nahhh... but WE SHOULD BE...)

so first ya got a very simple and easy dough (bread flour makes it much betta than all-purpose in my opinion), a mint-pesto hybrid, peppery crumbly lamb, fresh creamy burrata cheese, zippy red onion slivers, topped with fresh goat cheese, tons of fresh mint leaves, and some red chili flakes. 

shoutout costco who sells the most amazing pesto! last summer, we took this VERY good chewy baguette, sliced in half with olive oil drizzled, threw it on the grill til golden and slathered it in costco pesto and holy moses that was one of the best things i've ever eaten.

you can also make it from scratch, if you like.

but the point is that you add extra fresh mint to the pesto and pulse it together! for that extra layer of mint flavorrrrr. actually i hope you're not freaked out by the mint on this 'zaw? its good. so veryyyy goooooood. i told ya we were having a moment with fresh mint lately next to these fab fresh rolls. 

please make this pizza and go nuts over it like we did!

Lamb, Pesto, Burrata & Mint Pizza

Makes One 12-inch pizza

Active Time: 30 minutes, Total Minimum Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough: (Adapted from the Half Baked Harvest Cookbook!)

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast

• 1 TB. honey

• 1 cup bread flour

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 TB. extra virgin olive oil

Mint Pesto:

• 1/2 cup prepared pesto (store bought or homemade)

• 1 TB extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 oz. fresh mint (1 package // about 1/3 cup)

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 TB fresh lemon juice

Lamb:

• 1/3 lb. ground lamb

• 1 TB. extra virgin olive oil

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)

• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Toppings:

• 2-3 fresh burrata balls

• 1/3 cup red onion slices

• 1/2 oz. fresh mint (1 package // 1/3 cup)

• goat cheese crumbles

• red chili flakes

Instructions-

For the dough, add warm water, honey, and yeast to a medium bowl and whisk. Let sit for about 10 minutes until it gets a bit foamy. Add the bread flour and salt, mix and use your hands to knead the dough together for a few minutes. Add a sprinkle of flour if it's too sticky.

Use the olive oil to grease another large bowl and transfer the dough to this bowl, turning the dough to coat in oil. Cover with a warm damp towel and let rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until about doubled in size. You can make the dough in advance and freeze it in plastic wrap if you need to.

If using a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven as hot as you can while you prepare the pizza, about 500 degrees F. 

After the dough is risen, punch it down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. If you're using a baking sheet and not a pizza stone, you can turn out the dough onto a lightly greased & floured baking sheet. Roll out as thin as you can, about 1/4 inch thick. 

Heat oven to 450 degrees F whether you're using a pizza stone or a baking sheet. If you're using a pizza stone, the oven should be be BLAZING HOT from preheating the stone, so be careful. We even bought a pizza peel for this step. 

For the mint pesto, add all ingredients to a small food processor and pulse until incorporated.

For the lamb, heat the ground lamb in olive oil and minced garlic in a pan over medium heat. Add salt and lots of black pepper to taste, and a dash of red chili flakes. Let it get dark on each side before tossing the meat. I preferred it crumbly and peppery and almost blackened, but cook as you desire. 

Spread the pesto over the dough, about an inch from the edge. Add the crumbled lamb.

If baking on a baking sheet - add the remaining toppings now and bake the pizza in the oven at 450 for about 12-15 minutes until lightly browned on top.

If baking on a pizza stone - CAREFULLY shimmy the pizza dough with pesto & lamb crumbles off the parchment paper and onto the hot pizza stone sprinkled in a bit of corn meal. Bake for 5 minutes to solidify the crust before adding the wet burrata. Open the oven door and pull the rack out just enough so you can break the burrata balls on top and sprinkle on the red onion slices. Bake for 5 more minutes. Carefully remove pizza from oven onto a large cutting board using an oven-safe tool. 

Sprinkle crumbles of goat cheese on top, along with torn fresh mint, and a few dashes of red chili flakes. Slice and serve immediately! Enjoy within 2 days. 

qp