I’ve been making a concerted effort to get down to the Austin Farmer’s Market at least a couple of times a month if not weekly so I can support local farmers and lay hands on the fresh-picked food just like my grandmother’s garden produced when I was a child. When I bring my purchases home and feed my family I somehow feel that I’ve helped complete a very important circle of life.

What I love most about any farmer’s market is that the array of offerings goes so far beyond fruits and veggies. At our farmers market you can find breakfast tacos, fresh made bread, pizza, and even flowers. On a recent weekend trip I filled my bag with some amazing local meats, including:

• Fresh-caught red snapper from the Texas gulf-coast that I pan fried and served with a spicy crab and andouille sauce.
• Loncito’s lamb that will become lamb sliders.
• Thunder Heart Bison ribeye that is destined for the grill.

My favorite new (to me) find this week was Brazos Valley Cheese made by hand up the road in Waco at Homestead Farms. They buy their milk locally, which is an added bonus. Their selection includes both soft and hard cheeses and they seem to enjoy flavoring cheeses with things like sage, rosemary, and garlic. While I tasted many cheeses and, if I’m wholly honest with myself, would have loved to have brought some of each home, I kept my head and limited myself to their Marinated Mozzarella. This lovely soft cheese is nestled happily in olive oil and a nice collection of Italian spices. By itself it’s wonderful for snacking, but paired with the oh-so-in-season tomatoes and basil that are in abundance at the market, well, it’s farm food heaven.

I’ve found that the best way to give fresh, local ingredients their proper due is to let their flavors shine through without much mucking about. This recipe is one that I’ve had not once but twice in as many days tries to do just that. The list of ingredients is short and the success of the dish relies 100% on those ingredients being fresh and good. Don’t try this recipe in winter when tomatoes aren’t in season – you’ll be disappointed. And really, I wouldn’t try this with anything but a vine-ripened tomato that you know wasn’t picked until exactly ready to eat.

Recipe: Prosciutto and Mozzarella Flat Bread with Fresh Tomato

This recipe riffs off of my favorite techniques for quickly creating flat bread of all types: using pre-made pita bread in place of pizza dough. I use pita bread as the base for quick grilled pizza and it works just as well here. Many pitas are whole-wheat and low-fat (be sure to read the label) and can provide a healthier alternative to traditional pizza dough. They have the added bonus of being already made and baked too, which makes them a great helper when you need a quick meal. However, if you have a favorite pizza dough recipe you can use that as well.

Details

• Difficulty: Easy
• Serves: Makes 1 pizza
• Active Prep Time: 15 min
• Cook Time: 10 min
• Weight Watchers™ Points: 10*

Ingredients

• 1 large pita bread (my favorite local brand is Phoenicia)
• 2 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
• 3 thin slices of prosciutto, about 1 oz, roughly chopped
• 1 medium vine-ripened tomato, cut into 8 wedges
• 2 large basil leaves, cut into a chiffonade
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp. good olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat a grill or grill pan on high until smoking hot.
2. Place the pita on the grill and let warm for 2 minutes, or until grill marks just start to show on one side of the pita.
3. Flip the pita with tongs and reduce the heat to medium-high.
4. Distribute the mozzarella evenly over the pita.
5. Close the grill lid (or cover the grill pan with a lid or foil) for 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese just begins to melt.
6. Sprinkle the prosciutto over the mozzarella, cover, and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until the mozzarella is melted and the prosciutto is warmed through.
7. Transfer to a cutting board and let set for a minute before cutting into wedges.
8. Place the tomato in the middle of a plate. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with the basil. Surround with slices of the flat bread and serve.

Recipe for Success

• When I made this recipe I used marinated mozzarella, but you can use any type. I recommend fresh mozzarella because of its un-rivaled creaminess, but in a pinch you can use block or pre-shredded. You can also throw some parmesan cheese in (no green cans please) for a little extra bite.
• To make it easier to slice the mozzarella, put it into the freezer for a few minutes.
• I often my flat bread on a cast-iron grill pan inside because it is easier than trekking out to the grill on the porch. However, if I’m making lots of flat bread at once, the grill is the way to go. This is also a fun way to cook food on the porch or deck while hanging out with your friends.
• I like my prosciutto just warm and not crisp. If you like crisp prosciutto put it onto the flat bread when you first add the mozzarella. It will crisp up nicely as the cheese melts.

*Points Details

• Like my other pita pizza recipe, this dish is enough for an entire meal for one person. You can also split it with someone for 5 points and add a 2 point salad for a slightly lower-point meal.

Clearly I’m enjoying my farmer’s market shopping and cooking. What’s your favorite farmer’s market find and what did you make with it?

Learn more about mozzarella

Terry’s secret is to use thin pita bread in place of pizza crust. Pita bread can be had in fat-free and whole wheat varieties, and it is far easier to pull a piece of pita out of a package than to make pizza dough from scratch (although that can be fun when you have the time). Pita bread also freezes well and thaws quickly, so you can keep it on hand for an easy week-night dinner or even a quick snack. Need to clean out your refrigerator or pantry? Make a new kind of pizza with what you have on hand.

Learn more about pita bread

The Technique

Making a grilled pita pizza is pretty simple:

1. Spray one side of a pita with cooking spray and place spray-side down on a plate or baking sheet. This helps prevent the pizza from sticking to the grill.
2. Layer your favorite sauce and toppings onto the pita. Be sure to leave a ½ inch or so border of the pita un-topped so your goodies don’t drip or otherwise find their way onto your grill. Also, don’t pile the pizza too high. Your pita will crisp up long before your cheese melts and your toppings heat through if you are too top-heavy.
3. Put the pita onto a warm (not flaming hot) grill.
4. Grill until the pita is crispy and the toppings warm and melted, about 5-6 minutes. Pay attention, your pizza will go from crisp to burned in no time flat.

This technique also works in the oven. Instead of grilling your pizza, pile the toppings on and bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. If you have a grill pan or indoor grill on your stove, you can mark one side of the pita to get those great grill marks, then pile toppings onto the non-marked side and finish the pizza in the oven.

Weight Watchers™ Points-Friendly Pizza

My favorite version of this pizza calculates as 9 points in the official Weight Watcher’s calculator, but it’s a meal in itself. Half of the pizza is 4 points so if 9 points is more than you’d like to spend for a meal, split the pizza with another like-minded pizza eater and have a 2 point salad as a side. I top my pizza with:

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. dried italian herbs or any fresh herbs like rosemary and basil that are available
• 1 oz. soft goat cheese
• 1 c. raw spinach
• 1 oz. prosciutto
• 1/3 c. canned crushed pinapple

Other Topping Ideas

The sky is pretty much the limit for what you might put on your pizza. Some we’ve tried at our house are:

• Traditional pepperoni and Italian sausage with a tomato sauce.
• Ricotta, mozzarella, and pecorino romano topped with fresh pesto.
• Pineapple and pancetta with a tomato sauce.

Notes

• For this technique to work, the pita bread must be very thin. It produces a very crisp crust and cooks very quickly. Thin pitas are typically larger than thicker ones, so they make for a nicer serving size. Thick pitas will be more bready than you probably want for your crust and will most likely burn on the grill before they heat all of the way through. In the
  Central Texas area the best choice is pita from the local Phoenicia Bakery.

• The toppings on the pita will only be heated, not cooked through, so be sure to pre-cook any toppings that would otherwise need to be cooked  - say Italian sausage for example.

• Be sure to scrape your grill grate well with a grill brush before you cook your pizza. If your grill supports a two-level fire, either via piles of charcoal or multiple gas burners, your best bet is to cook your pitas on the cool side of the grill and use the hot side to generate the heat.

Pizza for a Crowd

I am convinced this is the best possible way to make pizza for a crowd. You can prep a whole collection of different pizzas to cook quickly and serve as appetizers for a party. A “Make Your Own Pizza” dinner would be fun too. Put out a whole slew of toppings and sauces. Each guest can create their own pizza masterpiece and you can grill them up in no time flat. I plan to have such a party before the summer is over and will post about it, with pictures of my guest’s creations. I may even give away prizes for the best pizza.