Kukicha tea crust pizza with pesto

Recipe by Christine Scheer

Ingredients for crust:

            1 cup brewed kukicha tea, warm

            1 teaspoon traditional yeast

            1 teaspoon granulated sugar

            1/3 cup olive oil

            1 teaspoon salt

            1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

            1 cup all purpose flour

Preparation:

In a table top mixer, combine the warm tea with the yeast, sugar, olive oil, salt and 1 ½ cups flour. Mix with the dough hook for a few minutes. When it is well blended, add in the remaining 1 cup flour, and beat with the dough hook for another 2-3 minutes, until it comes away from the edges of the bowl.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 1 hour.

            Basil Pesto

            4 cups (1 l) packed basil leaves

            6 cloves garlic

            1 1/2 cup (375 ml) olive oil

            1 teaspoon (5 ml) sea salt (optional)

            1-2 cup (500 ml) Parmesan cheese

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the basil leaves with the garlic and process until smooth. Add the salt and continue to process. With the motor running, pour in the olive oil, and the finally add the cheese. Scoop into clean jars. Refrigerate up to two weeks, or freeze.

            Seasonal Pizza Toppings

            Caramelized onions

            Roasted garlic

            Roasted peppers

            Grilled eggplant and zucchini

            Tomatoes

            Herbs

            Arugula

            Local mozzarella cheese, shredded

            Local goat cheese

And whatever your imagination will allow...!

To assemble and cook pizza:

1. Heat oven to 400 ° F. Oil a pizza pan.
2. Flop pizza dough out of bowl onto pizza pan. With your hands squish pizza dough to sides of pan. This dough is very soft and workable, it does not need to be kneaded, and will only fight back if over-worked.
3. Spread crust with pesto (you will have left-over pesto)
4. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, then other toppings of choice.
5. Place in hot oven and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes.
6. Makes one big pizza.