Hardly a recipe, this Grilled Corn Pizza with Burrata and fresh herbs is a flavorful launching point, which you can adjust to your whims and fancies (but don’t skip the lemon zest!).
One of my favorite coffee shops is but “a stone’s throw” from one of the Carnegie libraries, the one with large glass windows, perfect for curling up and taking advantage of all the latest magazines (both trashy and not) while spying on the city below. However, on this particular night, I wanted to camp in the cookbook section and eat with my eyes. I stumbled across Kristina Gill and Katie Parla’s Tasting Rome and succumbed to its Italian charms. As I paged through the doughy, saucy pages, an intro struck me.
“Who really cooks in Rome? In Italy, perhaps more so than anywhere else on earth, romantic notions of a timeless past persist. In spite of plenty of evidence to the contrary, visitors and locals alike still fantasize that Rome’s kitchens are populated by plump nonnas hard at work prepping, cooking, and cleaning. Sure, there are still some family-run institutions in which multiple generations toil at the stove, but that’s not necessarily the norm.”
The section goes on to talk about the importance of the under-celebrated and often ignored immigrant population (which is so important!), but the romanticized notion of cooking is what really struck me because, oh hey, I am guilty of romanticizing food. In fact, it’s what I do for a living. I love the long, really intentional recipes, with multiple, complicated steps, shopping trips that lead all over the city and the days prior that are consumed with planning. But I also love frozen pizzas (made with organic ingredients because please, I’m still me, and I’m still a Portlandia skit waiting to happen).
This Grilled Corn Pizza lands somewhere in between. It’s not really a recipe, but it’s more heartfelt than unwrapping dough from plastic. The lemon zest elevates the flavors and makes it feel like something a nonna might make, but while nonna isn’t looking, we’re buying the pre-made naan, raising our fingers to our lips, puckering with satisfaction, and pretending it’s a pizz-a pie-a. It’s the romance of weeknight food at its best. Break open a new Bota box and enjoy!
Buon appetito!
ps: This post was part of my Grilled Corn roundup/fixation/bender.
Grilled Corn Pizza with Burrata & Herbs
Yield: Adjust to your serving needs
About this Recipe: Hardly a recipe, just a flavorful launching point.
Ingredients
whole grain flatbreads or naan
organic pesto (or try a homemade version or a mint version)
grilled or roasted corn
grilled asparagus (or cheat with Trader Joe’s frozen grilled asparagus)
burrata
shaved parmesan
fresh rosemary, chopped
fresh sage, chopped
lemon zest
black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 450°F. Spread flatbreads/naan on a baking sheet. Spread pesto evenly over the flatbreads, then top with the suggested flavors to your whims and fancy. Bake until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, cool slightly, slice and serve!
Enjoy!
