I know that simply Gourmet Veggie Pizza is not a very sexy recipe title. Perhaps I should have named this “I Knew that Three Pizzas Were Not Going to Be Enough with a 14-Year-Old Boy in the House Pizza.”
During our after Christmas celebration with my side of the family, we had lots of food and fun going on in the house….lots of food….
You see, I had not seen my eldest nephew since May. Every time I see him, he seems to have grown a foot or more. By Spring Break, I know he will be taller than The Hubs (who is 6’2″).
Anywhoo, I knew that the three pizzas I had planned for dinner, a pepperoni, a deep-dish sausage, and a Canadian bacon w/pineapple, were not going to be enough. Mom had helped whip up a double batch of pizza dough so there was one more crust with which to experiment.
Gourmet Veggie Pizza
Dough for one pizza crust
1/2 c. pizza or tomato sauce
8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 c. sliced marinated olives
1/4 c. oil-packed dried tomatoes
1/4 c. garlic confit (or roasted garlic)
1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
a sprinkling of herbed saltPreheat oven to 450 degrees. While oven is preheating, go ahead and place a pizza stone in the oven. Let stone preheat for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Roll out dough thin and place on parchment paper. Using a pizza peel (or a flat cookie sheet) place the crust on hot pizza stone. Prick dough with a fork so air can escape and bubbles won’t form. Place crust in oven for about 5 minutes or until it just begins to firm up. Remove and spread on tomato sauce. Top with remaining toppings. Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is bubbly.
Luckily, I had all of these ingredients in the fridge and pantry. The garlic confit added just the right mellowness to the pie to make it almost gourmet. The most of the adults on the table deemed this their favorite.
The adult winner.
The 9-year-old and the growing-as-we-speak-14-year-old found the deep dish more to their palate and liking.
Piled with pepperoni, sausage, cheese and two layers of sauce.
Check out some of the other dishes we enjoyed:
Stay tuned for Cannellini Baked Beans and Super Bowl Sandwiches.
I never tire of pizza and think all of them would have been my favorite. So then I would have had to go back and try each one again. Maybe four pizzas wouldn’t have been enough if I was there…
We never tire of pizza here either, but I do try every once in a while to look beyond the traditional toppings. Basically, this was all leftover ingredients from the fridge. Alas, though, I need to make more garlic confit and herbed olives now.
It would be my favorite too. Look at all that amazing stuff piled on there! I’d be like Chris though, having to go back and try each one before I could make my decision. Better make 5 pizzas next time. 🙂
Honestly, I had one piece of this and one piece of the Canadian bacon/pineapple and that was all that was left. Growing boys! 🙂
I want to reach in and grab one! They look great, Debra.
Thanks, Angie!
Pizza is a true weakness for me. Homemade is the best! I am bookmarking your recipe, love the toppings!
Hope you are staying warm out there on the prairie! It’s 28 degrees here in my part of Florida.
Warmer here but the wind is blowing a gale. Keep warm!!!!
Love pizza! And when I was 14 I could demolish a whole one of these by myself. Maybe two. 🙂 Veggie pizza is so good, isn’t it? Yours looks particularly nice. And these days, it’s much more my speed. Two slices, please — my days of eating an entire pie are over!
Who doesn’t love pizza? I could spare a couple of slices for ya!
I love artesian pizzas! But I tell ya I hope to never look a piece of pepperoni again.
That’s what having kids in your life will do for you. Sometimes I think I don’t like pizza that well, then I remind myself of artesian pizzas.
I still love a good pepperoni pizza, too, though, Carol. 🙂
Perfect timing! I made pizza crust yesterday and have enough left for another pizza tomorrow. This is a great pizza and I have everything but the dried tomatoes. However, there is a market just down the road.