Basil Pesto Green Pizza

So remember that pesto I made the other day? We had some leftovers, so I decided to use it as an alternative to tomato sauce on a homemade veggie pizza.

Well, we planned on making it vegan. But then we started thinking about how good some fresh mozzarella would be on it, all melty and hot out of the oven. I caved and bought a ball of the delicious cheese from Stew Leonard's. And oh, was it worth it. Still, this pizza is easily made vegan by leaving out the cheese!

To the right,  after I let them brown a bit with a touch of olive oil. You want to make sure the onions are cooked as much as you really want them to be, because the pizza won't be in the oven long enough to fully cook the onions. I like onions on my pizza soft and slightly caramelized. If you want to fully caramelize the onions, keep browning them past thestage you see in the photo until the onions are golden brown. 

Above, you can see all the ingredients I added to the pizza before cooking. After rolling out the dough on a cookie sheet (make sure you grease!!!!) I spread a layer of basil pesto, broccoli florets, some chopped garlic, the browned onions, and some sliced fresh mozzarella. I also like to add some fresh cracked pepper on top of the cheese, it tastes good and looks pretty.

 Then I popped this sucker into the oven and baked for about 15 minutes according to the directions on the pizza dough I used. When it was done, we let it cool for a few minutes and sprinkled it with fresh basil chiffonade (basically, basil strips). Easy as, well, pizza pie.

 Basil Pesto Green Pizza (Serves 8)
1/2 recipe Vegan Basil Pesto
1 Pizza dough
1 onion, cut in half and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 head broccoli
1 ball fresh mozzarella
pepper, to taste
fresh basil leaves

In a medium sized pan, heat olive oil and cook onions until lightly browned. Cool. Cut small pieces of broccoli from head and set aside. Slice fresh mozzarella and cut into halves.

Preheat oven and prepare cookie sheet (or pizza stone). Prepare the pizza dough for topping as per manufacturer's directions. Spread pesto in a thin layer evenly on the prepared pizza dough. Then top with garlic, onions, and small pieces of broccoli. Top with slices of mozzarella and sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper.

Bake according to pizza dough directions, being sure to add a few minutes if necessary to ensure crust cooks through at the center. When done, remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile, stack 6-8 large basil leaves on top of each other and roll them up. Slice through basil roll to create chiffonade cut basil. Sprinkle basil evenly across pizza before serving.

Nutrition Estimates (1 slice)
Calories: 384 Carbs: 32g Fat: 22g Protein: 17g

Nutrition Estimates without Mozzarella (1 slice)
Calories: 224 Carbs: 32g Fat: 10g Protein: 7g