'tis a gift to be simple {pesto pizza recipe}

Well, I'm telling you, this blogging thing really does have a life of its own.  One second I'm feeling guilty for not posting enough, the next, the posts just seem to materialize out of thin air, for no rhyme or reason.  Case in point - ever since I read Meghan Telpner's "Pizza night" post a few days ago, about the virtues of making your own simple version of a pesto pizza, I've been CRAVING just that - with a capital C!

For some reason, kale & walnut was the pesto of choice that I was craving.  I have no idea why that combo seemed appealing to me - perhaps it was simply because I happened to have those ingredients on hand.  Which, dear friends, is exactly the point, right?  Simplicity.

I probably could have whipped up a pesto on my own, but because I was in a lazy mood and didn't feel like experimenting tonight, I googled on up "kale walnut pesto", and found exactly what I was looking for at Love & Lemons.  So before I go any further, let's give credit where credit is due - thank you once again Meghan, for being a never-ending source of inspiration, and thank you, Jeanine, at Love & Lemons, for your gorgeous website.  I will definitely be back when I have a bit more time to ogle all your beautiful recipes!  Please take a moment to follow the above links back to the full recipes from both Meghan and Jeanine - but just because I was in the mood to take pics, here's a little step-by-step pictorial essay on how and what I prepared and ate for dinner tonight. Sorry, they're all iPhone-d this time! Remember - simple is the key word here! :)

1.  Using 4-6 smallish kale leaves, I removed the heavier part of the stems.
2.  Boil some lightly salted water.
3.  Don't forget to put the lid on!  The water will boil faster. :)
4.  Add kale to boiling water to blanch for 30 seconds.  (Why was I thinking of lobster here?)

5.  Prepare ice water bath for kale.
6.  Remove poor kale from boiling water and plunge into icy cold water.
7.  To add insult to injury, squeeze the living daylights out of the kale, which is now in shock.
8.  Absolve yourself by tucking the kale into a nice cozy tea towel, and giving it a nice loving pat. :)

9.  Add kale, 1/4 c. walnuts, 1/2 to 1 clove of garlic (I used 1 clove because I am a garlic fiend) to food processor.
10.  Juice one whole fresh lemon, add to processor.  I didn't bother with the lemon zest - just not in a zesty mood tonight.  (i.e. I didn't feel like cleaning my zesting tool).
11.  I opted to include 1/4 c. of olive oil, along with salt and pepper to taste.  Then hit that process button, aaaaaaannnnddd...
12.  Voila!!  It was all worth it!  The kale lives again in a gorgeous kale & walnut pesto!!  :)

From this point forward, it's all about the pizza - preheat oven to 350°, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread pesto on tortilla or flatbread of choice, and add desired toppings.  You don't really need to add any toppings, but since cherry tomatoes are at their candy-sweet best right now, I sliced a bunch of those babies up and added them to my pizza:

Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm.  I didn't really need to bake it at this point - but I resisted - and popped those beauties into the oven for 20-30 minutes (okay, let's call it 25 minutes):

Oh BOY, I wish you could have smelled how GOOD they smelled as they were baking!  You'll just have to take my word for it.  Or try it yourself, of course. :)

And by the time my kitchen cleanup was done, it was all ready to eat:

Or should I say THEY were all ready to eat - no guilt here, I ate them both. :) Perhaps the "after" pic isn't quite as colourful and pretty as the before - but OMG, it was DEElicious - the tortilla crisped up to a  perfect crunch, the flavour of the tomatoes was rich and, well, tomatoey, and the pesto was simply perfect!

So there you have it.  Writing a blog post wasn't at all what I had originally planned for this quiet rainy summer evening at home, but sometimes these things just have a way of writing themselves.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks again to Meghan Telpner and Love and Lemons for your inspiration and recipes!