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Community Corner

RECIPE: Veggie Pesto Pizza

Need a relatively quick and easy meal for tonight?

The next time you feel your dinner is in a rut and you grab the pizza delivery menu, consider making your own.

This veggie pizza with arugula pesto recipe takes roughly 20 minutes to prep, maximum 35 minutes to cook and serves four people. If you want to make the recipe even more simple, skip step 2 and use a jar of already prepared pesto (Classico or Buitoni brand).

Ingredients:

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  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 1 pound pizza dough (Pillsbury® Thin Pizza Crust works well)
  • 1 1/2 cups baby arugula leaves, packed loosely
  • 1/2 cup basil, packed loosely, plus 4 leaves
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons of water
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt (and more for seasoning)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper (and more for seasoning)
  • 1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced.
  • 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cup of fresh bocconcini cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 400 degrees and lightly coat a baking pan or pizza sheet with cooking spray. Roll the dough onto the baking pan and bake for 5 minutes.

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2. While that's baking, combine the arugula, the 1/2 cup of basil, 2 garlic cloves and lemon juice in a food processor. Drizzle in the 1/4 cup of oil and the water and pulse until a thin paste forms. Add the Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper and pulse.

3. In a large skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat. Chop the remaining garlic and add it to the skillet with the mushrooms and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Saute until tender (about 4 minutes).

4. Spread a 1/4 cup of pesto on the pizza crust. Top with the mushrooms and tomatoes. Scatter the bocconcini cheese on top (break off pieces or slice them into flat pieces) and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake until the pie crust is brown, or until the cheese melts (20 to 25 minutes).

5. Slice the remaining basil and garnish the finished pizza with it. Enjoy.

This recipe was an adaptation of a recipe in Fitness Magazine. If you stick strictly to the ingredients in the original recipe (which includes rainbow chard and ricotta cheese), a serving is 476 calories.

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