In France, they make both sweet and savory crepes. You can order them filled with a variety of cheeses, meats like ham or chicken, and vegetables such as tomato and mushroom. But our favorite are the dessert crepes, especially those filled with Nutella or salted caramel.
If you’re not familiar with Nutella, it’s a wonderful spread made from cocoa and ground hazelnuts. It’s surprisingly nutritious, considering how delectable it is. In fact, it has about the same number of calories as peanut butter, but 5 grams less fat per two tablespoons. It’s delicious on just about anything from a toasted English muffin to a shortbread cookie.
We were thinking about making a pizza for dessert, and Nutella seemed like the best place to start. We put our cast-iron pizza pan in the oven and heated it to 450 degrees.
Nutella
We rolled out the pizza dough as usual and spread some cornmeal on our pizza peel. We put the dough on the paddle, and then spread Nutella all over the crust. This turned out to be the most challenging part, since the Nutella sticks to the raw dough. We decided not to be too fussy about the appearance and just distributed the Nutella as evenly as we could.
Next, we cut some marshmallows in half and placed them cut-side down on the dough. Fruit sounded like a good idea, so we sliced up some ripe strawberries. They’re at their peak here in California.
So far, we had a nice combination of flavors, but it seemed a little one dimensional. Then if came to us. What if we soaked the strawberries briefly in balsamic vinegar and a little brown sugar. That would add depth and complexity. And the tartness of the vinegar would offset the sweetness of the marshmallow. Perfect.
Nutella Strawberry Marshmallow Pizza
We slid the pizza off the paddle and onto our pre-heated cast iron pizza pan and baked it until the marshmallows melted and started to brown on top – who doesn’t love that. At 450, the marshmallows browned pretty quickly. So you’ll need to roll the dough out so that it’s very thin. Otherwise, the marshmallows will overcook before the crust is done.
Our dessert pizza was sensational fresh from the oven. But it was also quite good at room temperature. What we didn’t eat for dessert, we had for breakfast with a little whipped cream. Sure, it was decadent. But you’re supposed to indulge a little this time of year.
You may not think of Nutella and marshmallows as suitable pizza toppings, but our dessert pizza was a big hit and will probably indulge in it again soon.
Now that it’s fall, can pumpkin puree and nutmeg be far behind?
Nutella Image Flickr: Enrico Matteucci