Pesto, Eggplant, and Peppered Salami Pizza

PIZZA!!!!

Still one of my favorite things to make. If you don't have my recipe for the crust here it is:

http://whilestilldark.blogspot.com/2011/01/pizza.html

For the Pesto

2 cups of arugula

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/3 cup of graded parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp of salt

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of cashews (or pine nuts, or walnuts)

pinch of red pepper flakes

You can make this in one of two ways. 

1. Take all of the ingredients and put them in a tall mixing bowl. Blend together with an immersion blender. you can add more oil to adjust the consistency if it is too thick with the proportions that I have put here. As far as consistency, a thin paste is what you want. 

2. Take all ingredients except for the olive oil and put them in a food processor. Start to process continuously and slowly stream in the olive oil. Pour in the oil until you have the desired consistency. Again, it should resemble a thin paste. 

Spread evenly over your prepared Pizza Dough

Grade 1 1/2 to 2 cups of parmesan cheese and spread over the pesto sauce

Topping:

1/2 an eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced

12-15 pieces of sliced peppered salami (I buy this at my local grocery store. It is sliced salami with a coating of coarse black pepper on the outside. If you can't find this at your grocery store then feel free to get regular salami)

Olive oil

For the eggplant: lightly drizzle it with olive oil. The Eggplant will absorb the oil right away. This is to add a little extra flavor and soften the spongy texture of the eggplant. 

Arrange the Salami and Eggplant on top of the Pizza

Bake (475 degrees for 12-15 min or until golden brown underneath)

Invite a good friend over to share it with you and enjoy