Italian Farmhouse Rustic Pizza

Name: Italian Farmhouse Rustic Pizza
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 yellow bell pepper; 1 ball of pizza dough, store-bought or homemade; Olive oil, for grilling dough; 1 cup pizza sauce; 3/4 cup ricotta cheese; 4 ounces prosciutto; 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly torn; 3 tablespoons crushed pistachios; Good balsamic vinegar or glaze, for drizzling

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by Jeff Yates September 18, 2013 10 comments

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This Italian Farmhouse Rustic Pizza is a complete meal on a pizza. Includes prosciutto, ricotta, roasted yellow peppers, basil, pistachios and balsamic vinegar.

Overhead shot of rustic pizza on top of cutting board on tiled table, with "Rustic Italian Farmhouse Pizza" headline.

My husband LOVES making pizza – he grills it in the summer, bakes it in the winter, and comes up with a new flavor combo each time. In this monthly “guest post,” I’m going to sit back, relax, and maybe take the occasional photo while Jeff makes me a pizza and tells you about it. Here he is:

In continuation of my guest posts about my favorite food – PIZZA – I tried to come up with something I’ve never seen on a menu before.

Most of us have had pizza that includes prosciutto or ricotta or basil, and probably a chicken pizza a time or two, as well.

Don’t worry, those traditionally awesome toppings are still present. But, it is the other toppings like balsamic vinegar, roasted yellow peppers, and crushed pistachios that book it a ticket on the train to Flavor Town.

Side shot of grilled farmhouse pie on cutting board on tile table.

Again, I made sure to brown the dough on the grill just like I did in my grilled pizza tutorial. I flame-roasted the yellow pepper on a burner on the side of the grill while the dough cooked.

When the dough was mostly cooked, I added the pizza sauce, ricotta, yellow pepper, and prosciutto (also one of my fav elements of a breakfast charcuterie board).

After letting that cook on the grill for a bit longer I added the final toppings that I didn’t want too warm – pistachios, balsamic drizzle, and hand-ripped basil (you could chiffonade them but the hand-tear gives a more rustic appearance).

Overhead shot of Italian pizza, cut into pieces, on cutting board on tile table.

You might be asking yourself, why pistachios? Well, I find that the crunchiness, saltiness, and lightly sour nature of pistachios can add a great boost of flavor. They are one of my favorite nuts. The ones here were simple to prepare . . . First, go buy yourself a bag of salted pistachios with the shell on*.

De-shell them and crush them the back of your knife or lightly chop them. It is my personal opinion that pistachios pair well with creamy things like ricotta and sweet things like balsamic – and that makes the combo on this rustic pizza classic in some way.

* I used those ones, Wonderful brand, with those crazy commercials – like Psy dancing. For the record, my personal favorite involves the Honey Badger (do yourself a favor and Google that if you have no idea what it is).