Green Pizza is perfect for a St. Patrick's Day dinner, a meatless meal for Lent, or a special treat for vegetarians celebrating Spring vegetables! Green Pizza is fresh and savory with cheesy goodness! The Artichoke Pesto is loaded with flavor and is a perfect base in lieu of tomato sauce. The freshness of the Spring vegetables makes this a delightful, healthy and delicious treat.
Here are my 3 secrets to this amazing pizza:
Secret number 1: Pick up the green vegetable toppings at your grocer's Salad Bar! That way you don't need to buy and open a full bag of spinach or peas for just the handful of each needed for one pizza. Pick the veggies that you like from their wide array. For this pizza, I used spinach, peas, & edamame plus asparagus and basil.
Secret number 2: Buy ready-made pizza dough, available at most grocer's these days, to speed up the process for a quick weeknight meal. I like to roll the dough out very thin for a crispy, thin crust.
Secret number 3: Use a ready-made Artichoke Pesto in place of the pizza sauce base! It adds a wonderful richness and flavor to the pizza. The Pesto may have lemon or spinach added. The brand I used was made by Sunset Foods, a local grocery chain. Here is a good Lemon Artichoke Pesto loaded with garlic and Parmesan.
It's quick and easy to make - roll, arrange and bake!
Roll out one piece of the dough to a 14-inch circle as thin as possible.
Place the dough on a 14 inch pizza pan that has been dusted with cornmeal.
Add the Artichoke Pesto as the first layer the same way as you would add the tomato pizza sauce - dollop with a spoon, and swirl on with the back of the spoon. Next arrange the green vegetables on top of the pesto sauce. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan cheese. Dust some Italian seasoning on top.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden.
Cut into wedges and serve. I like to drizzle a touch of good quality olive oil on top. You can see how thin the crust is and it holds up wonderfully.
Green Pizza with Artichoke Pesto, Asparagus, Spinach, Edamame, Peas and Basil
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough for one 14 inch pizza homemade or store bought
- 6 ounces store-bought artichoke & lemon pesto sauce
- ½ cup mixed fresh green peas and edamame from salad bar
- 16 asparagus tips from thin asparagus spring stalks
- 4 ounces fresh baby spinach from salad bar
- 6 large basil leaves thinly sliced.
- 8 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese shredded
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- Pinch of red pepper flakes to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Sprinkle tablespoon of cornmeal on a 14 inch pizza baking pan.
- Coat your hands and rolling pin with flour. On a floured board, roll out the dough to a 14 inch circle. Be sure to use enough flour so the dough is not sticky. Using the rolling pin, transfer the dough to the baking pan.
- Spread the artichoke lemon pesto in a light layer on the pizza. Spread shredded mozzarella cheese over the pesto. Arrange the fresh spinach leaves, asparagus tips, peas and edamame on top of the cheese. Sprinkle with black and red pepper. Sprinkle the top with grated parmesan.
- Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. Remove from oven and slide the pizza off to a wooden cutting board.
- Garnish with fresh basil and another drizzle of olive oil. Cut into slices with a pizza cutter.
- Serve immediately.
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