Well… not exactly, but the history behind the pomegranates used on our pomegranate pizza is pretty interesting! It all starts at Mission Garden in Tucson, Arizona!
Mission Garden
Mission Garden’s primary mission is to preserve, transmit and revive the region’s rich agricultural heritage by growing garden plots representative of more than 4000 years of continuous cultivation in the Tucson Basin! The site is Tucson’s birthplace, and archaeologists have documented 4,100 years of continuous cultivation. The Garden contains over a dozen distinct multi-cultural, ethno-agricultural heritage plots, each representing one of the many ethnic groups that farmed the Tucson Basin over the last four millennia. Crops from these plots have proven to be productive, sustainable, and well-adapted to this climate and location.
The Pomegranate Pizza
For this year’s Pomegranate Festival (Which happened Oct. 8 2022 in Ajo, AZ) we visited Mission Garden and left with crates full of their incredible Heirloom Pomegranates! After a few hours in the kitchen, we had them carefully deseeded and ready for pizza!
First, we started with our classic Ajo Pie dough – Handmade the day before to slowly rise overnight in the fridge. The dough is topped with a brushing of pesto (Made with Ajo Basil!), caramelized butternut squash, crispy kale, garlic, parmesan, and provolone cheese – We toss the creation into our 800-degree ovens and then top it all with our chilled Pomegranate Salsa!
The reviews? ONE OF OUR BEST PIZZA COMBOS YET!
Will we serve it again? Yes! We’re limited on pomegranates so it may just be a seasonal pizza.
We just sampled our first Ajo Pie, today. Italian sausage and cheese. Damn good! It won’t be our last. I’m just sorry that you’re 40 miles away. But, we shall return, unless of course you come to us. Good luck guys! You have a great product. The crust, with the new flour was excellent! Hope to see you soon!