Pizza: Grilled Grapes, Pinenuts, and Herbs

My friend K served a most unusual appetizer several years ago. She splashed a bunch of stemmed grapes with balsamic vinegar and roasted them until they popped and oozed with caramelized goo. She probably presented them alongside some lovely cheeses and crackers, but I can only recall the warm snap of the grapes.

Memory of those grapes lead to this weekend’s pizza. The pizza combines grapes grilled over hot coals, pinenuts, provolone and parm-reg, and every fresh herb I could find in our garden; finished with a glaze of reduced balsamic and olive oil. Next time I’ll add chevre and a little topping of cool arugula salad. The creamy game of the cheese and the bitter greens will give the sweet grapes and nutty cheeses and pignolis some balance.

A Note About Vinegar: Am I the only one out there still in love with balsamic? I know it has fallen out of favor (and flavor) due to the abundance and variety of other vinegars, but she is still my go-to girl. I reach for balsamic regardless of the shelf lined with red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, white rice wine vinegar, a bunch of “used once for a recipe” flavors that live on the door of my fridge, or even my IKEA lingon-apple vinegar with its unnaturally pretty fuchsia color. The only bottle that entices me away from my vinegar commitment is that glimmering carafe of high acid Swedish stuff. Equally glamorous and dangerous, she is a temptress.