During March Break, my husband and I were lucky enough to spend three days in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was our first vacation alone in over two years. Paired with the incredible weather it was bliss.
Of course we missed our little guy John, but it was so nice to sleep in until 8 a. m., catch up, read, watch movies and dine out. Thanks to John’s grandma and grandpa for babysitting.
During the drive home, David and I reviewed our favourite meals from our mini-vacation. We came up with two overall winners.
The first was an exceptional dinner at the Stone Road Grille, known to the locals simply as “Rest”. David had a fabulous carrot and pulled pork risotto to start, while I choose the bibb lettuce, duck, quail egg, olive and “tomato raisin” salad.
Selecting a main was difficult, as they all sounded so good. After some debate, David chose the lamb shank shepherd’s pie and I had the Charlie Baker chicken with bubbly sauce, truffled sweet potatoes and collard greens.
We managed to save room for dessert and shared their delicious apple crumble on shortbread served with cinnamon merlot ice cream. We’ve been to the restaurant before and it never disappoints. If you are heading near Niagara-on-the-Lake in the future, this is definitely a spot to check out.
The second winner came from a little place called The Pie Plate Bakery & Cafe in Virgil ( www.thepieplate.com ), which is only a five minute drive out of Niagra-on-the-Lake.
The Pie Plate specializes in — you guessed it — fruit pies, along with a slew of other freshly baked goods. However, it was their thin-crust pizza that really won us over — this pizza is quite possibly the best I have ever tasted.
The first day, we tried their seasonal pizza which was apple with walnut sage pesto, bacon, cold pack cheddar and a drizzle of maple syrup. The second day, David tried their mozzarella, sausage and roasted red pepper variety while I ordered the mozzarella, pear, walnuts, blue cheese and prosciutto variety.
If I had to choose between the three, the seasonal pizza would be my favourite. I liked it so much that after only two days of being home, I tried to recapture the flavours myself — I hope that you enjoy them too!
bacon, apple & cheddar pizza with walnut-sage pesto & maple syrup
ingredients for pizza toppings
(choose your own favourite pizza dough recipe)
- 1/4 cup walnut sage pesto
- 1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 1/4 cups peeled, sliced, sautéed apples (cook them in a little veg oil over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until softened)
- 2 or 3 tablespoons hot banana pepper rings, chopped (note: this was not on the original pizza, but David and I like a bit of heat with our sweet so we made this addition). 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
method for pizza
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees (move oven rack to centre of oven). Line a 13” by 18” greased baking sheet with a thin layer of pizza dough (or, use a traditional pizza pan).
- Spread the pesto on top of the dough. Top with the bacon, 1 1/2 cups of cheese, the apples and the hot peppers.
- Top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
- Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.
- Remove pizza from the oven, drizzle with the maple syrup and cut into squares or slices and serve hot.
ingredients for pesto
- 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup good quality olive oil
method for pesto
- Blitz walnuts, sage and salt in the bowl of a food processor until pureed, about 30 seconds.
- Add olive oil and blitz until incorporated and smooth, about 10 seconds (note: this is a thick pesto).
- You only need 1/4 cup of pesto for the pizza — note that you can freeze the remaining pesto for future use.
