Roasted Veggie Pizza

Big fan of homemade pizza over here.

1. You know exactly what you’re putting into the pizza (whole wheat dough, fresh veggies, no oil), so it’s 10x healthier already.
2. Since it’s healthier, you can eat 4 slices of it and not feel guilty or bloated.
3. You get to play with the dough.
4. You get to use your new pizza stone that you got for Christmas.

So let’s get to it.

Roasted Veggie Pizza (Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

• 1 package refrigerated whole wheat pizza dough
• 2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
• 1 cup sliced zucchini (1 small)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium red onion, cut into thin slices
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp yellow cornmeal
• 1/3 cup pizza or tomato sauce
• 1 cup cheddar or mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup light ricotta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
2. Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand for 30 minutes. (Go do a workout in the meantime.)
3. Combine mushrooms, zucchini, black pepper, yellow pepper, and onion in a large bowl. Drizzle with 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil. Arrange on a pan lined with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, spray the pizza stone (or a baking sheet if you don’t have a pizza stone) with a light layer of cooking spray. Then sprinkle it with the cornmeal. (You can also add some extra cornmeal into the dough, which I like to do as well). Shape the dough to the size of the pizza stone. You may need to use a rolling pin to get it even.
5. Spread the pizza/tomato sauce onto the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border at the edges for the crust. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella/cheddar cheese on top of the sauce. Top with roasted veggies. Top with the remaining cheese and then dollop the ricotta evenly spaced out on top.
6. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until the crust is golden.

My Two Cents: Pizza is pretty versatile, so you pretty much can’t go wrong with it.

Roasting the veggies before putting them on the pizza made a huge difference in this recipe. I used to make up pizza recipes on my own and just throw raw onions and mushrooms onto the pizza, and they would….come out raw in the end. Roasting mellows them out and brings out their flavors. It’s worth it.

As for a variation, um, goat cheese would be fine and dandy instead of ricotta.

;)

Enjoy! This is the perfect Friday night meal to enjoy with a nice cold beer :D