Mediterranean Pesto Pizza

Fancy up your pizza night! With the right ingredients and presentation, pizza is a healthy, and delicious choice for a meal, and depending on how you slice it, it can also serve as cocktail hour appetizers (call it flatbread to make it really jazz it up). This pizza with a base of homemade pesto sauce, variety of cheeses and colorful vegetables will check all those boxes.

Ingredients:

• 12 inch Pizza crust (either homemade and stretched thin, or use a frozen shell)

• 1/3 cup Pesto sauce (see recipe below, but store bought works)

• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, freshly shredded

• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly shredded

• 2 or 3 small fresh mozzarella balls, crumbled

• 1/4 cup Feta, crumbled

• 1/2 cup Artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (canned or jarred work)

• 1/3 Red bell pepper, sliced thin

• 1/4 cup red onion, peeled and sliced into thin strips

• 1 -2 cups fresh spinach leaves

• Olive oil

• Kosher salt

For the pesto:

• 1 cup basil leaves

• 2 cloves peeled garlic

• 1/3 cup pine nuts

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 1 t salt & dash of black pepper

Directions:

1. To make the pesto, combine basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and salt and pepper in a mini prep processor and blend until smooth, add additional olive oil if needed

2. Spread a thin layer of pesto on the pizza crust, going to the edge

3. Sprinkle Mozzarella cheeses and parmesan evenly over pizza

4. Place artichoke, bell pepper, onion evenly over pizza and top with spinach (the spinach will shrink significantly in the oven so pile it on)

5. Sprinkle feta on top, drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle salt

6. Bake according to pizza crust directions, ensuring crust begins to brown and cheeses are well melted, close to browning

7. Slice in triangles or squares. For a complete meal, serve with a green salad.