Green Pizza

Pizza dough truly is a blank canvas. You can put whatever you want on it, and chances are it will taste good. Now I know the traditional sauce for pizza is a tomato sauce, but I like to switch things up now and then.

Today I am using pesto. Pesto is just a sauce made from crushed herbs and garlic. The most traditional pesto is made from parsley, garlic, pine nuts and parm cheese. I have made my own pesto before, and have tried different version using different ingredients (I'll have to show you that another day =P). But sometimes I like to take the easy route and use the jarred stuff. You may be taken aback at first by the price of pesto, but trust me, once you see how far the jar will spread, you won't feel so bad.

Like I have mentioned before, I like sneaking as many veggies as I can onto pizza because no matter what you put on it...its still pizza. So today's pizza is green..obviously it must be somewhat healthy right? Right?

Green Pizza

Your Favourite Pizza Dough (plain, flavoured, pre-cooked, whatever)
3 Tbsp of Pesto
3 Cups of Spinach
Goat Cheese (or mozzarella) and as much or as little as you want
Parm Cheese (optional)
Fresh Herbs (optional)
Cornmeal (optional)
Olive Oil
Chicken (optional - I didn't use it today because I didn't have any..but it would be an awesome addition)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out your dough (if it needs to be rolled). Sprinkle some cornmeal on a baking sheet (this is optional, but it adds a nice little crunch to the crust). Spread out the pesto all over the dough. Cover with spinach.

Place in oven for approximately 15-18 minutes or until the crust just begins to show a little color. Pull it out and add the goat cheese. The reason I add the goat cheese near the end is because I personally do not like when goat cheese is completely melted. Have a different opinion? Be my guest and add it earlier. Just a matter of preference. Throw it back in the oven for another 5-8 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Like a crunchier crust? Leave it in longer.

Once out of the oven, sprinkle on parm cheese and fresh herbs (don't fret if you don't have any herbs, it doesn't MAKE the pizza, it just takes it up a notch). Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top.

Eat your greens!

Cooking Tip for 1: I highly recommend just making this whole pizza for yourself. That is because I am a fan of cold pizza and I love having it for lunch (or breakfast) the next day. But of all the pizzas I have had, this is one of my favourite cold.