Cheese Blueberry and Lemon Verbena Pizza

The sauce on this pizza is made with blueberries smoothed over a cheese base and topped with peaches and my favorite herb lemon verbena.  This is the time of year I trim my leggy lemon verbena as I take them outside giving me a lot of extra leaves to use. This is not your everyday pizza, but it’s certainly a pizza worth having every day.

Cheese, Blueberry and Lemon verbena Sweet Pizza

1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 ounces softened cream cheese
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
One (10-inch) prepared pizza dough or crust
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 to 2 peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/4 cup chopped cashews
1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh lemon verbena

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Blend together ricotta, cream cheese, 1 tablespoon sugar and vanilla extract. Spread cheese mixture evenly over crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border.

In microwave-safe bowl or small saucepan, combine blueberries, cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar; toss to mix well. To make sauce in microwave, heat on high for 2 to 3 minutes (depending on your microwave’s wattage) until sauce thickens. To heat on stove, bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Let cool slightly and spread thickened blueberry sauce evenly on pizza.

Arrange sliced peaches on pizza in a spiral design. Top with cashews; sprinkle lemon verbena on top. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is lightly golden. 

RECIPE THEME

Each month a theme is chosen and a number of recipes on that theme from my massive archive will be shared.  This year we have 12 new topics, different from the topics of last year.  To find the recipes of last year, check out this recipe link or search the blog with the topic Recipe2018, or Recipe2019 

You can search the monthly theme by looking for the theme keyword in the search box and it will pull up the recipes on that theme as posted, so look at the bottom of the recipe in each posting for the KEYWORD in the () to search for each  month.  All recipes this year will be tagged Recipe2020 so you can find them all.

The themes are:

Feb 2020 - Footbal Tailgate Favorites (AppFeb)

March 2020 - Kabobs (KabobMar)

April 2020 - Brunch (BrunchApr) more in 2021 also

May 2020 - Non-Traditional Pizza (PizzaMay)

June 2020 - StirFry Dishes (StirJun)

July 2020 - Salads with no lettuce (SaladJul)

August 2020 - Pickled things (PickleAug)

September 2020 - Quiche (QuicheSep)

October 2020 - Squash Soups (SquashOct)

November 2020 - Pumpkin (again) (PumpNov)

December 2020 - Turkey Recipes (TurkDec)

Introducing a new Tea Blend - Fruit Infusion

Today we will be at the Elmhurst Garden Walk and Faire 9 AM to 4 PM.  Please stop by and see us.  One of the items we are debuting this summer is a tea made with fruit and herbs,  It is a departure for me to make a tea with fruit, but I found an organic supplier of the items to make it and felt it was finally time to combine my fresh dried herbs with some fruit to make an entirely different taste.

I named the tea Fruit Infusion as it has a combination of different fruits and herbs and it contains: blueberries, cranberries, goji berries, and pear along with hibiscus, chamomile, blackberry leaf, borage, lemon and orange peel.

When brewed it is a lovely shade of pinkish/red with a flavor that tastes of  berries and with hints of apple and citrus.Goji berries and blueberries are super fruits that are high in antioxidants and other wonderful flavonoids that boost immunity, reverser aging and many other beneficial attributes. Blackberry leaf and borage are high in vitamins A & C and anti-inflammatory herbs that can help with management of arthritis, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

Today in Elmhurst we will have zip seal bags of this brand new blend for the discounted price of  $4.00 or you can buy them on the website with this link.

And if you stop at the booth we will be sampling the perfect Summer iced tea, that I made last year. It contains lemon grass, hibiscus, lavender, rose hips, orange peel and some cooling peppermint. We title this one Summer Surprise and it is getting rave reviews across several states!

Blueberrry Pancakes

According to the broad definition of an herb, Blueberry is an herb.  That is of course if you use the definition of any plant where the leaves, stems, roots or fruits have edible, medicinal or aromatic uses.

I don’t always use quite that broad a definition, but since January 28th is National Blueberry Pancake Day, I thought what the heck.  Besides my husband is an amazing chef and his blueberry pancakes are to die for.  So In honor of the day, here is his herbal blueberry pancake recipe.

Herbal Blueberry Pancakes

(As an added bonus according to Annishinabe tradition, this should treat madness!)

2 Cups all purpose flour

2 Tbls. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 – 2 cups fresh blueberries
1 3/4 cups milk
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Tbls. lemon herb butter
3 Tbls. fennel infused herb oil (separated)
1 whole egg, slightly beaten

Directions:
Start with a medium size bowl, sift together, flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder.  Combine with milk, butter, egg, 2 Tbls. fennel oil and vanilla extract. Do not over mix the pancakes or they will become heavy.  Add the washed blueberries, stir.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat, brush with herb oil.  When oil is hot, pour about ¼ cup of batter for each pancake onto hot skillet.  Brown on one side, when bubbles appear it is time to flip.  Then brown other side. Serve with warm blueberry or maple syrup.

To make fennel infused oil, just take 3 Tbls. Oil and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Then pour the warm oil over ¼ tsp. bruised fennel seeds and let sit for 15 minutes.  Strain and use the oil.

To make lemon butter, you can use lemon balm, lemon basil, lemon thyme, lemon verbena or a combination of those herbs.  Blend 2 tsp.dry herbs with 1 tsp. Lemon juice.  Let sit for a minute, then blend into 1 stick of softened butter.  Allow to meld a bit before using.  (Can be made in advance and frozen.)

If you want to make pancakes the easy way, the Backyard Patch has a pancake mix you can use instead.  Check it out online:  

www.etsy.com/listing/01234567/cinnamon-pancake-mix-in-a-jar