Mediterranean Pizza

This is one of my favorite pizza recipes, and it is one that features bright flavors of the Mediterranean region, namely pesto, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts, paired with herb and garlic grilled chicken, thin sliced red onion, Parmesan cheese and grated part-skim mozzarella. The basil and garlic from the pesto carry through in every bite, while the sun dried tomatoes give a sweet tangy punch. Each bite is different, as you can bite into a quartered artichoke heart or into a juicy piece of grilled chicken. Whether you decide to make it pan pizza style or go for the crispy thin crust from the pizza stone, each variety has its special pleasantry. With the thicker, chewier crust the whole thing melds in perfect harmony and it deeply satisfying. The thin flat bread crust however let the topping stand out even more, and it transforms the pizza into something a little more sophisticated. Each will please you as I think the flavor combination here make for a truly outstanding pizza!

Mediterranean Pizza

See recipe for basic pizza dough from an earlier blog. This is enough dough for 2 large pan pizzas (cookie sheets) or 3 round pies on the stone.

This is a simple pie to put together as I use store bought pesto, canned quartered artichoke hearts, canned roasted red peppers and a jar of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil. The chicken is the most time consuming part (although this is a great way to use up any leftover chicken you might have), and then it's just slicing the onion and grating the cheese.

For the chicken, I like to marinate bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts in a little olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, chili flakes, Italian seasoning and black pepper, for at least a couple of hours. The I simply season it with some salt and grill the chicken (or roast it) until it is just done, at 160 degrees. When it is cool enough to handle, I pick the meat off the bone and give It a rough chop. 2 bone-in breasts are plenty for 3 pizzas.

To prep the pizzas, use the pesto as you would pizza sauce, and spared evenly across the dough. Next top with the chicken, artichokes, chopped sun-dried tomatoes , chopped roasted red peppers, a handful of grated mozzarella, thin slice red onion on top, and some Parmesan cheese grated around the edge of the crust. Cook it in the hot oven until the cheese browns and the crust has also browned on the bottom.

Let me know how it turns out!