Benjamin Button Pizza

This white pizza was inspired by the film for Oscar night.

Ingredients

2 pints multi-colored tomatoes, sliced (use green, red, orange and yellow ones of all sizes, whatever you can find in the store)
1/2 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
A pinch fresh, chopped oregano
Salt and pepper
1 1-pound ball fresh pizza dough or 1 large pre-baked pizza crust
3 packed cups baby arugula
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
A few grates fresh nutmeg
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
2 cups shredded provolone cheese

Aired on:

February 20, 2009

Also on this show:

Preparation

Preheat oven to 250ºF.

Arrange tomato slices on a baking sheet and drizzle with EVOO, oregano, salt and pepper. Roast in oven until beginning to caramelize, 1 hour, then turn oven up to 325ºF for another 30 minutes. Remove tomatoes from oven and allow to cool slightly.

If using fresh pizza dough, turn oven up to 450ºF. Roll dough out to about 12-inches in diameter across on a lightly floured surface. Transfer dough to a cookie sheet and bake in oven until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Let cool.

While the crust is cooling, add the arugula, walnuts, nutmeg and a splash of water to the bowl of a food processor. Add some salt and pepper, and pulse to roughly chop. With machine running, stream about 1/3 cup EVOO (eyeball it) into processor to make a pesto. Transfer pesto to bowl and stir in 1/2 cup Parmigiano (eyeball it).

Spread pesto on baked pizza crust and top with shredded provolone and remaining Parmigiano. Arrange slow-roasted tomato slices on pizza and return to oven to melt cheese, about 10 minutes. Let pizza sit a couple of minutes before slicing and serving.