Crave Wednesday: Local Farmers' Market Pizza

When you think of Austrian food, what do you think of?  For me, it's schnitzel, strudel, and sausage (wurst).  So you can imagine my surprise that when I lived in Vienna the predominant food, found on every corner, or more aptly every subway stop, was pizza.

Maybe it's not so surprising, given that here in the USA we have lots of non-native foods that can be found just about everywhere, but I was still taken aback.  What differentiated the Viennese pizza from its American counterpart was the addition of corn.  On almost every slice.  Corn on pizza?  It seemed like such a strange concept to me.  But when in Rome...(or Vienna).  So one day after class, waiting for the train to take me home, I sampled a piece of Viennese pizza.  Complete with corn. 

Corn adds a really interesting texture and flavor to pizza.  When eaten at the height of summer, their sweetness bursts in your mouth.  Without getting too into the double entendre territory, I love things bursting in my mouth.  It's my favorite part of cherry tomatoes.  This Farmers' Market pizza combines both.  And as the weather is warming up, it's getting to be just the right season for sweet tomatoes and sweet corn.  So good, no sauce is even necessary - although, to be fair, I often find fresh tomatoes to be one of the best sauces out there, leaking their juices with each bite.

Local Farmers' Market Pizza (From Cooking Light)

refrigerated pizza dough

cooking spray

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups thinly sliced onion

1 tsp chopped thyme

2 cups thinly sliced red bell pepper

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh corn kernels

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

5 oz thinly sliced fresh mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated parmigano reggiano cheese

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 425.  Place a pizza pan in the oven to preheat.
2. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray and let stand, covered, 30 minutes or until dough comes to room temperature.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add olive oil to pan, swirl to coat.  Add onion and thyme to pan and cook 3 minutes until onion is tender.
4. Add bell pepper and garlic to pan, cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add corn, slat, and black pepper and cook 1 minute.
6. Roll dough into a 16 inch circle on a lightly floured surface.  Remove pan from oven and coat with cooking spray.  Place dough on pan.
7. Arrange mozzarella slices evenly over dough.  
8. Spread corn mixture evenly over mozzarella.
9. Top with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  Bake for 23 minutes.
10. Arrange tomatoes evenly over pizza and bake an additional 5 minutes. 
11. Sprinkle with basil and cut into 6 wedges.