Chicken Pesto Pizza

Last night I made four pizzas.

Pizza is one of the best meals to make with a group, as long as you have room in the kitchen for a few people. It is fun to give ownership of the toppings to the individual, and really makes the eater part of the cooking process. Things taste a little bit better when you have to work for it.

When I am making pizza however, I usually have trouble letting go of creative topping control. Mainly, I have a vision of what the pizzas should look like when they are done, and I don't want anyone to mess with that vision. Maybe I have control issues.

This round of pizza making featured 2 chicken pesto pizzas and 2 veggie intense marinara pizzas.

My chicken pesto pizza is really good. Actually, it's phenomenal.

I put down pesto as the sauce, spreading it over the dough. Then chopped spinach goes down with pesto marinated chicken, and artichoke hearts. A layer of mozzarella cheese covers these toppings, with roma tomatoes, feta cheese and pine nuts sprinkled on top.

• Pesto
• Chicken
• Spinach
• Artichoke hearts
• Mozzarella cheese
• Roma tomatoes
• Feta cheese
• Pine nuts
  

Knives

Knives are crucial to any kitchen.

A dull knife requires the chef to use force, increasing the chance of a blade slipping and causing injury.

A dull knife will bruise or damage the food being prepared, altering presentation and changing the flavor (especially in the case of garlic).

A dull knife just plain takes more work.

I am in the market for some really really good knives.

Here is the direction I think I am leaning.

Welcome

I like to cook.

There is something utterly fulfilling about combining discrete pieces, uniting them in some hidden theme, and having their sum satisfy and bless people.

More and more I am discovering that the joy I find in feeding others, in bringing people together to share a meal, is something that drives me.

With this discovery, I have begun to push my culinary envelope. I was raised a meat and potatoes (and fruits and vegetables) boy, so I have a hard time straying into the gourmet realm of fine cooking. Luckily, I developed my own culinary category.

Gourman is the type of cooking I aspire to prepare and offer. It is defined chiefly by its grandiose scale and bold flavors. Tertiary characteristics include cost, food diversity etc.

Thus, this is my manifesto. My Gourman Manifesto. The Gourmanifesto.



This is a meal of spiral pasta noodles with a tomato-garlic meat sauce, garlic bread and steamed asparagus. Cook time: 40 minutes