There were two things that got me through tonight’s workout at H.E.A.T. Bootcamp:
1. Meeting Andrea. When Katie found out I was moving to Austin, she introduced me to Andrea, who had recently moved from Atlanta to Austin, via Facebook. We’ve been chatting up a storm over the past few months and it was great to finally meet her!
2. The pre-prepped batch of pizza dough that was waiting for me to cover it with a bunch of goodness when I got home.
I’ve been on this crushed red pepper/sriracha/spicy kick for the past few months, so I couldn’t help but purchase this gynorm jalapeno at the market over the weekend. I was a tad nervous that fresh japs would be too intense, so I sliced them on the thin side. It was a good move.
As far as the rest of the toppings go, I brushed the dough with olive oil, topped with sliced tomatoes, portobellos, and the thinly sliced jalapenos. I brushed everything with olive oil again to ensure nothing turned dry or crispy and baked in a 425 degree oven for 8 minutes.
When the veggies were looking good and wilted, I added fresh mozzarella pearls and baked for another 5-ish minutes until the cheese was melted. I am a huge fan of cooking with fresh mozzarella, but it tends to release a TON of water when it cooks. I remedied the soggy situation with a paper towel after baking, but I’m wondering if I should squeeze some of the excess moisture out of the cheese prior to baking next time.
And even though my go-to pizza toppings for the past decade have been spinach and artichokes, I’ll happily push those aside for mushrooms and jalapenos. Spicy umami is where it’s at!
