Arugula Pesto Pizza

I'm not sure how it is already May (or will be in an hour and a half) and we your friendly cooks/bakers at scrambledeggsetc have not done a post on pizza. Pizza is one of my favourite foods. I love how versatile pizza can be - as this here recipe will exemplify.

Just a few weeks ago, I went out for dinner at the recently opened Terroni Yonge St restaurant with some of my girlfriends, for, you guessed it - pizza. I'm not intending to give a review of the restaurant here, but I will say that I liked the new space. I had been to the Yonge and St Clair location lots of times before it closed since it was always a convenient meeting spot for good, but overpriced Italian food. I chose a pizza called "La Pecuri" that was topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, goat cheese, sundried tomato, arugula, and parmigiano (I didn't remember that there were that many cheeses on my pizza but I just looked up the menu - no wonder it was so delicious!). The pizza came covered in a thick layer of arugula - and since that pizza, I've been craving arugula.

Other names for arugula include: rocket, roquette, or rucola

Arugula has a rich peppery taste. You're most likely to see arugula in salad, but it goes really well on pizza. When making pizza with arugula, you want to add it just before the pizza is finished cooking, or after it comes out of the oven to avoid wilting. Or - create your own version of an arugula pesto, like I did with this recipe. I've also added it to pasta, tossed with olive oil, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and black olives. Arugula may be my new favourite leafy green. Let's get back to pizza though...

I discovered this recipe through Huffington Post but the recipe is based off of one from Giada De Laurentiis. As you may recall, she provided us with our recipe for the most amazing tomato sauce that we used in our Italian Feast. If you haven't done so yet, go back and try the tomato sauce recipe - I guarantee you won't regret it. I had a good feeling that Giada's recipe for Arugula Pesto Pizza would be delicious - and so it was.

I have to admit before I post the recipe that I used a store bought frozen pizza dough for my crust. I have every intention of making pizza dough from scratch for a post in the near future (I'm not lying when I say pizza is my favourite food) - but by using a store bought pizza dough, you're able to save on time and the results are still delicious!

The Recipe:

1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I used light ricotta)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 packed cup arugula
Flour, for dusting
1 1 lb store bought pizza dough
Olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced

1. In a food processor or blender, combine ricotta cheese, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
2. Add the mozzarella and arugula. Pulse until just combined, but still chunky. Note: since I used a blender rather than a food processor, I chopped up my arugula before adding it into the blender, since I didn't really trust my blender's ability to do it for me.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pizza dough. I cut the ball of dough in half first, to create 2 10-inch pizzas. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
4. Spread the ricotta mixture onto the pizza dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange the sliced tomatoes on top.
5. Follow the instructions for baking the pizza dough: I baked my pizzas for about 15 minutes each, at 425 degrees. Depending on how thick your crust is, you may need them to bake for more or less time. Pizza is ready when the crust has browned around the edges.
6. Remove pizza from oven and allow to cool a few minutes before cutting and serving.

The arugula pesto on this pizza is cheesy and full of flavour from the arugula. The tomatoes compliment it nicely, but you could also try adding red peppers. I would avoid any salty toppings like olives or sundried tomatoes.

If you love pizza as much as I do, but you are not a huge fan of arugula, this may be a good way to try it out! Eat this pizza as a main, or cut it into small wedges and serve as an appetizer.

Happy Eating!

Caroline