Pesto Pizza

A few weeks ago I mentioned using my pizza stone and the wonderful dough that can be bought at Publix. I had been wanting to try other pizza recipes. So when Ellison and Jennifer came to visit a few weeks ago, we created a Pesto Pizza recipe based on a recipe that we found. It turned out so well! I usually only like more traditional pizzas, but this was wonderful! I can't wait to make it again!

Pesto Pizza
Ingredients:
Pizza dough (homemade or bought in the bakery)
Olive oil, for brushing and drizzling
All-purpose flour, for dusting
4 tbsp. pesto sauce (can be homemade, but several pasta sauce brands have a good pesto)
Part of a bag of baby spinach
Part of one red onion, chopped finely
Can of artichokes, drained
Can of slice black olives, drained
3 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
2 oz parmesean cheese, grated
(Sun-dried tomatoes and mushroom might be a good addition!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Brush a cookie sheet with oil (or use a pizza stone!).

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter to a 10-inch round circle. Place on the cookie sheet and push up the edge a little. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes. Spread the pesto evenly over the base. Place artichokes, olives, onions, and spinach on the pizza (also add any optional ingredients at this point). Then add the grated cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes - until golden and sizzling. Serve immediately.

Monday Mentions

This Monday I want to mention my Pampered Chef baking stone. We cooked pizza on it for the first time last night - and I'm loving the stone (I wish we had used it sooner!) The stones are also great for cooking rolls and biscuits. Click here if you want more info on the Pampered Chef stone. Our pizza turned out great because the stone heats the pizza evenly and keeps the crust from being either too soggy or too tough. And it worked wonderfully to heat the leftovers tonight. We will definitely be using it more often!

I also wanted to mention the wonderful pizza dough that we used. We thought about making it from scratch, but didn't want to wait for the dough to rise! And several girls from church mentioned using the dough from Publix. They sell balls of pizza dough in their bakery section. So I got the dough at the store and came home and rolled it out on the stone. I really cannot imagine that it would have been any better if we had made it ourselves. It was such a great time saver! And you can keep the dough for several days if you can't use it right away.

This is the pizza recipe we used last night. The thing that I love about this recipe is that there are a lot of different options for the recipe. It is perfect if you are running out to the store last minute and want to pick up some inexpensive ingredients. But you can also make the recipe with pepperoni from the deli, fresh mozzarella cheese, and other quality ingredients - it would perfect for a night in with friends!

Pepperoni and Onion Pizza
(Adapted from: Delicious Pizza)
Ingredients:
Olive oil, for brushing and drizzling
Pizza dough (either premade or homemade)
All-purpose flour, for dusting
5 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste (in the produce section near the fresh tomatoes)
3-4 tomatoes, skinned and thinly sliced
Part of 1 red onion, chopped finely
4 slices prosciutto or other cooked ham, coarsely chopped (optional)
12 slices pepperoni sausage
12 black olives, pitted (optional)
3/4 tsp dried oregano
3 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
Salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Brush a cookie sheet with oil (or use a pizza stone!).

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter to a 10-inch round circle. Place on the cookie sheet and push up the edge a little. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes. Spread the sun-dried tomato paste evenly over the base. Arrange the tomato slices on the base and season with salt. Sprinkle over the chopped onion and prosciutto and arrange the pepperoni on top. Add the olives and sprinkle with oregano. Then add the grated cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes - until golden and sizzling. Serve immediately.