Artichoke-and-Red Pepper Pizza

Ah pizza, the American staple.  Well believe it or not this pizza is meat free.  Wait let me just double check that....yep no meat in this pizza.

Given that this pizza has 0% meat, I was fairly certain that this would be one of those meals that my husband ate just to appease me. For him, pizza with no meat is like breathing without air. 

I guess they say you never stop learning things about your partner.  He loved it!  I'll admit I loved it too, but I was in such shock that he loved it that I thought I might have been dreaming--or that he was just saying it was good to make me feel better.  But he had a genuine love for this pizza.  Normally Cooking Light cuts back on the cheese, which is one method they use to make things 'lighter'. However, I felt like this was a great amount of cheese to pizza ratio.  The recipe used up most of a bag of shredded mozzarella.

Like other reviewers, I bought fresh mushrooms and sauteed them with the red peppers.  See those green spots? I also added some homemade pesto, from another great CL recipe (seen here).  It really took the recipe to an awesome level.  How do I have fresh pesto in the winter when basil is not abundant? Simple silly, I freeze it and thaw some whenever I need it.
 
This recipe was designed as a party appetizer, with 16 servings total.  We split this into 8 servings instead, to make it more of a meal portion.  The only caveat I would mention with doing this is that the crust isn't tough enough to hold a 'slice'.  So next time we will up the time on the pre-bake of the crust to see if that works. And there will be a next time.

It appears as though www.myrecipes.com is doing a redesign of their website.  Because of this, I can't give you the rating of this recipe. I think it was a 5 star rated recipe with about 10-20 reviews. 

Recipe by Cooking Light, November 1995

• YIELD: 16 appetizers (serving size: 1 appetizer)

Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza dough
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup julienne-cut red bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1 (2.5-ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Cracked pepper (optional)

Preparation

• Unroll pizza dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat dough into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle. Bake at 425° for 5 minutes; set aside.
• Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add red bell pepper, basil, oregano, and garlic; saute 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in artichokes and mushrooms.
• Sprinkle half of cheese over prepared pizza crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Spread the vegetable mixture evenly over cheese, and top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with cracked pepper, if desired. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned

Nutritional Information

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• Amount per serving
• Calories: 101
• Calories from fat: 32%
• Fat: 3.6g
• Saturated fat: 1.3g
• Monounsaturated fat: 1.5g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.6g
• Protein: 4.8g
• Carbohydrate: 12.7g
• Fiber: 0.3g
• Cholesterol: 6mg
• Iron: 1.1mg
• Sodium: 256mg
• Calcium: 103mg