Dinner is served! And no one is happier than I, when it’s a pizza that turns out this awesome! In more sophisticated speak: a pizza with an unparalleled amalgam of flavors that captures every sense upon first sight, the vibrant colors and textures trigger Pavlovian salivation. The first bite confirms every notion the moment your teeth sink into the perfectly crisped crust, studded with crunchy bits of cornmeal, feel the slight resistance of al dente potatoes melded with flavors of earthy mushroom, creamy mozzarella, bright lemon pesto, a hint of aged gorgonzola and touch of bittersweet roasted arugula. No stringy cheese, or overloaded pizza with greasy toppings threatening to drop into your lap – every bite is just enough to send you into pizza nirvana.
I’ve said it before, to me pizza is practically its own food group – if you add fruits and veggies and use cheese sparingly, it is a healthy, fairly well-rounded meal, especially with a green salad on the side. I can eat pizza for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but let me clarify – I guess I should say “gourmet” pizza, for lack of a better term, because I’m not talking about frozen pizza or crummy pepperoni pizza from any nation-wide pizza chains, but homemade pizza or, distinctly “artisan” pizza (sorry, another overused term) when I’m out.
Proof in point, my dripping with eggy goodness Green Eggs and Ham Pizza for breakfast, summer alfresco dining with my heirloom tomato SXSW pie (a little bit South, a little bit Southwestern), Cheese Board Pizza with Champagne Grapes – a perfect accompaniment to wine and cocktails or, my latest creation, this light and lovely vegetarian pizza bursting with amazing fresh flavors for dinner.
Let’s get started on this amazing pizza!
Purple Potato & Pesto Pizza
A crispy crusted vegetarian pizza loaded with vibrantly colored purple potatoes, arugula and golden mushrooms with creamy mozzarella, a hint of aged gorgonzola and bright lemon pesto.
Servings: 12 slices of pizza (2 – 3/4″ thick 12″ round pizzas or one 13″x18″ rectangular pizza)
Ingredients:
1 package prepared pizza dough or homemade pizza dough*
1/4 cup medium grind cornmeal
4-6 tablespoons prepared Lemon Pesto*
5 ounces Idaho® purple potatoes
5 ounces mushrooms, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup arugula
10-12 small cherry tomato size balls of fresh mozzarella (called Ciliegine)
1/3 cup gorgonzola crumbles
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
If making your own dough, prepare the pizza dough at least two hours in advance to allow for rising time.
1. Cut the potatoes into 1/8 inch slices, preferably using a mandolin for quick and uniform slices.
2. Heat a skillet over med-high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil and red pepper flakes. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until the moisture is cooked off and the mushrooms are browned.
3. Spray a cookie sheet (s) or pizza stone with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal and press or roll out the dough into an oblong or circle with your hands, occasionally lifting up and rotating between your hands to stretch the dough out, if necessary.
4. Bake the pizza dough for 10 minutes. Remove and begin layering the toppings. First, spread the Lemon Pesto sauce over the crust sparingly (it’s OK to see the crust underneath – too much sauce makes for a soggy pizza) up to 1/2 inch from the edge.
5. Place potato slices around the pizza, squish the mozzarella balls and space them out among the potatoes, scatter the mushrooms, sprinkle with two tablespoons of gorgonzola, lastly arrange the arugula on top and brush the outer crust with olive oil before placing in the oven. You will have ingredients left over which can be saved for another use, like a veggie scramble or omelet.
6. Bake in the bottom third of the oven for 20-25 minutes, varies with each oven and the thickness of your crust.
* I use the pizza dough recipe at King Arthur Flour, which at first seems rather involved, but it’s because they offer options on preparation for that day or later use. I recommend Roland Food’s Lemon Pesto sauce because it has zero sodium, compared to other brands that are quite high in sodium.
Enjoy 🙂
One more thing, a huge pizza letdown for me is a crust that is too doughy without a hint of crispness, and forget cracker crust pizza – that’s just not a pizza to me. Here are three tips for a crispy crust that are written into the recipe but bear repeating.
TIPS FOR A CRISPY CRUST:
1. Heat your pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven for 5-6 minutes while you are preheating the oven. When the stone or baking sheet is already warm, then the pizza is going to warm and crisp faster.
2. Bake the dough for 10 minutes at 450 degrees F. before adding the toppings. If you add sauce to soft dough it will absorb it and result in a soggy interior crust.
3. Cook the moisture out of ingredients such as mushrooms and zucchini before adding to the pizza. This can be done by sautèing or grilling.
I think more and more people are either vegetarians or, like me, trying to bring more vegetarian main dishes to the dinner table for health and environmental reasons. If you’re a regular reader, you know that Don has battled heart disease since an emergency quadruple bypass in 2001. For decades, heart disease was considered more of a problem for men but it is also the #1 killer of women and, thanks to the efforts of the American Heart Association and the Go Red For Women campaign, women are becoming more aware of this fact.
Why Meatless? Going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel. {Source: Meatless Monday} To read more about the health and environmental benefits of going meatless just once a week, visti Meatless Monday’s website.
Besides the vegetarian pizza recipes I mentioned above, there are a plethora of vegetarian main dish recipes on my website. Here are a few you might like:
Grilled Peppers Stuffed with Basmati Rice
Kale with Caramelized Onion and Butternut Squash
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos
Disclosure: I received compensation from the Idaho Potato Commission for development of this recipe. The opinions expressed are my own.
Your pizza looks fabulous, I’d love this for dinner tonight!
This is a must try for me. Easy and delicious, I’m sure.
Gorgeous pizza! Almost too pretty to eat — but of course I’d eat it in a heartbeat!
What a gorgeous pizza!!! You know this pizza addict is loving your recipe! I definitely had to pin your recipe, it really sounds delicious:-) Hugs, Terra
This sounds like pizza perfection to me. While I still eat meat now and then, I prefer my pizza without it. I love the lemon pesto and potatoes, wish I had some I’d make it tonight. Hope you have a great weekend.
-Gina-
This looks amazing! I had never thought to put potatoes onto pizza, but I am totally giving this a go because I LOVE potatoes!
Hi Corinne – you will love it!! And, stay tuned, because I have a whole lotta potato ideas coming 🙂