My Cuisniart mini chopper/grinder is a kitchen tool I use every single day when I prepare dinner. Cuisinart happened to be at BlogHer Food 09, and they were kind enough to give every single blogger in attendance their newest "Elite Collection" 4-cup chopper/grinder. Mine arrived in the mail on Monday and I have to say, the timing was impeccable. My old chopper is on its last leg. So thank you, Cuisinart.
I broke it out of the box yesterday and after a nice wash, decided to make arugula pesto. Easy choice, really. Our CSA had just dropped off our weekly box and I could smell the arugula as soon as I opened the door for the delivery dude.
Recipe is simple: Chop a bunch of arugula leaves (I used about 2 cups) in your mini-chopper. I find that I have to also alternate between the grind and chop to get the leaves into a nice paste.
Add 1/2 extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 - 3/4 fresh, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I use a microplane so the cheese is all light and fluffy), two garlic cloves and salt/pepper to taste.
Instead of pasta, the boys wanted fresh pizza. We made the dough and the boys opted for olive and cheese over tomato sauce on their pizza. I decided to make egg pizza because I knew the eggs would taste so, so good combined with the arugula pesto, and a nice glass of chardonnay.
I adapted my recipe from one by Mom's Pizza Dough. I brushed the bottom of the dough with the pesto, covered it with fresh slices of mozzerella cheese and a mixture of feta and lemon zest. I did not use fresh herbs. I cooked it for about 8 minutes, added the eggs, then cooked it for another 10-12 minutes because I wanted the eggs to be soft but cooked (no runny eggs!). Then I squeezed a bit of lemon juice over the top.
It's such a hearty pizza and one of my favorites. I have to admit when I first saw Kim's post about egg pizza I thought, no way sister. But once I tried it, I was hooked. And the pesto makes it divine.
