I’m not one of those moms who love to hide veggies in my kids’ food, but I’m definitely no above covering veggies with cheese and serving them as pizza! Supreme Vegetarian Pizza isn’t just a way to get kids (and adults) to eat more veggies, it’s also a thoughtful way to empty the crisper at the end of the week.
With a white pesto-meet-ricotta sauce and just enough mozzarella and parmesan to hold the veggies in place, this pizza also hits all the right notes for a delicious dinner filled with veggies at every bite.
Prepare your vegetables for the pizza
One of the challenges of vegetable pizza is knowing how to prepare the vegetables before they go on the pizza so that they cook properly in the oven. The last you want to bite is a crunchy carrot! But that doesn’t mean you can’t put carrots on pizza, because you absolutely can and should. For brassicas (think broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts), finely chop the florets before preparing them on the pizza. Tubers, like sweet potatoes, should be thinly sliced on a mandolin. With a peeler, carrots and zucchini can be peeled into ribbons.
INGREDIENTS
Pizza dough of 1 pound, at room temperature at least 1 hour
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
4 teaspoons of basil pesto
All-purpose flour, for sprinkling
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 cup chopped broccoli florets,
1 large carrot, peeled and shaved
8 ounces of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup diced red onion (from 1/2 small red onion)
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese (2 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (1 1/2 ounce)
INSTRUCTIONS
- In the oven, place a rack at the lower third. Place a 13 x 18-inch thick rimmed baking sheet on the rack and heat the oven to 450 ° F.
- Place the ricotta cheese and pesto in a small bowl and mix.
- If the dough is sticky, sprinkle with a little all-purpose flour. Stretch or roll the dough into a 13 x 18 inch rectangle. Carefully remove the preheated baking sheet from the oven and transfer the dough to the baking sheet. Use your fingers to insert the dough into the pan, pressing it into the corners.
- Brush the dough with oil. Spread the ricotta-pesto mixture in an even layer over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Top the pizza evenly with the vegetables in the following order: broccoli, carrot, tomato, onion and bell pepper. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan evenly over vegetables.
- Bake until edges are golden and crisp, 15 to 17 minutes. Let the pizza cool for 5 minutes before cutting it into 16 1 1/2 to 2 inch squares.
