Friday, July 13, 2007

3-Cheese Vegetarian Pizza

This isn't really much of a recipe, per se, it's just something the kids and I usually eat on the weekends because I'm a big pushover. Also, I really am not a huge fan of making my own pizza dough, so when I feel espescially lazy I use the premade Barilla shells. They aren't as good, but they are much faster.

Crust:
Any basic recipe for pizza dough works, BUT:
I add 1 tsp dried oregano and 1 tsp dried basil to the dough.
You can even use the boxed crust mix and just add herbs to it.

Toppings:
Pesto sauce OR pizza sauce (jarred is fine)
artichoke hearts
chopped spinach
sliced tomatoes
mushrooms
cooked broccoli florets
mozzarella cheese (fresh, sliced)
crumbled feta
grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Make your dough according to whichever recipe you normally use plus the herbs. Press it out onto a greased pizza pan.
2. Spread pesto or pizza sauce, as you like, over the crust. Lay slices of mozzarella to cover sauce.
3. Layer vegetables atop cheese. Sprinkle feta over veggies and grated parm over feta.
4. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until crust is crisp and brown and veggies are soft.

If you don't already use fresh mozzarella when you make pizza, shame on you!! Processed shredded cheese does not compare. Also, chopped basil leaves on top of the sauce give it a really good flavor, if you are as big a fan of basil as I am (especially if you are using the preprepared crust). I also sometimes brush the crust with oil before cooking and then sprinkle sesame seed on it, so they toast while in the oven. Yum!

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