Kale Pesto, Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Pizza

Whenever I am lacking inspiration, but feeling motivated to try a new recipe, I turn to pinterest! I have my "eats" board full of my own recipes, or those I haven't yet tried, that look mouth watering. Since I have really been into kale lately (for the health benefits, still trying to love the taste), I thought the Kale Pesto Pizza would be a perfect way to disguise the kale flavor in one of my favorite foods. My mom loves pizza, and I wanted to make her something special for Mother's Day, so I decided that was the perfect excuse to make this new pizza. Check out the squash pizza I made a few years back for another different pizza idea. While pizza isn't "pizza" to me without tomato sauce, this was a really tasty treat and I likely will make a similar combination in the future. The pesto is great on sandwich or pasta. The recipe I used was a bit funny, the author clearly stated to use shredder mozzarella, but used fresh mozzarella on the pictured pizza. I just decided to use what I already had on hand, which was a chunk of organic mozzarella. I shredded about 4 ounces for one pizza. Onto the pesto: I decided to double the recipe, since I know pesto gets eaten with any, and everything at my house. I also decided to use raw cashews, not pistachios, because I couldn't find any pistachios out of the shells, and frankly, cashews sounded sweater, and creamier to me. Then, I got even more creative with the recipe, when I used the recommended 1tsp of salt (x2) and it turned out to be way too salty - knew when I tasted it and it was almost perfect I should have added the salt more gradually (not all at once), rookie mistake. This led to my desperate attempt to mediate the problem with what I had on hand, yet again. I added 1/2 cup of raw, sprouted walnuts, 3 more leaves of kale, and more olive oil. While still salty, the pesto was very good, flavorful and creamy. Note how bright green the pesto is, above. I added the tiniest bit of lemon juice, 1/4 tsp. But the color has stayed bright for days, which isn't the case with basil pesto. I seasoned the sliced sweet potatoes (1 whole) and half an onion (the recipe called for red, which would have been prettier, but the ones at the store didn't look very edible) with salt, black pepper and a bit of Cajun seasoning, which Jack and I use on our fries. They were in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, per the recipe. This was enough toppings for both of the pizzas I baked. For the dough, believe it or not, my first ever very own pizza dough, since Jack was MIA. I used the Cuisinart food processor and it's pizza dough recipe which was very easy. 2 tsp active dry yeast 1 tsp sugar 1 1/4 c warm water 3 1/3 c all purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp of sea salt 3 tsp of olive oil Dissolve yeast and sugar in a 2 cup measuring cup in the warm water, until foamy, which takes a few minutes. Add flour, salt and oil to the food processor, mix. Slowly pour in the yeast mixture through the small feed tube. Once the mixture forms into a ball in the machine, it's done. Put the dough into an oiled metal bowl, let it sit in a warm place (I used the counter above the dishwasher) for 55 minutes. Once the dough is risen, punch it out and roll into pizzas. I made two thicker crusts, about 14 inches wide. Once I rolled out the dough, I put it into the oven on my wire rack for several minutes, until it poofed up in the 500 degrees. I ended up leaving the second crust in longer than the one pictured, so it was well cooked, and would be more browned when the pizza was finished.   The pizza cooked for several minutes, I waited until the cheese was bubbling, turning a bit brown, and the edges of the crust were golden. My biggest concern was to make sure I didn't overcook the onions, which were browning and very quickly, charring. However, we all concluded, that the onions were an amazing compliment to the sweet potatoes, cutting the sweetness with their caramelized flavor. The pesto wasn't too salty on the pizza, even though I spread it as generously as I would red sauce, so I was quite relieved.  Even dad, who doesn't like green things was able to eat a couple of pieces of pizza and not feel too overwhelmed by the extra nutrients! Pizza Toppings 1 small Sweet Potato (sliced) ½ Red Onion (chopped) 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, divided Salt, for seasoning the potato and onion slices (and Cajun seasoning) Pepper, for seasoning the potato and onion slices 1 Cup Mozzarella, at room temperature, shredded ⅓ Cup Raw Pistachio and Kale Pesto Pesto 3 Large Leaves Kale (I used 9) ½ Cup Pistachios, raw and unsalted (I used 1 c raw organic cashews, 1/2 c sprouted walnuts) 3 Cloves Garlic (I used four cloves) ¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used closer to 2/3 c) 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt (I recommend salting the pesto to taste) Blend all ingredients together, adding the salt, last! via cooking with a stud, http://www.cookingwithastud.com/2013/05/kale-pesto-sweet-potato-caramelized.html

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