PESTO PIZZA WITH ARTICHOKES, RED PEPPERS, AND SPINACH

Drop dead delicious! That's the succinct way to describe this pizza. Pizza is the food I could not live without. It's my absolute favorite lunch or dinner. I'd eat it for breakfast, but the guilt would be too powerful. I love thin, crusty pizza, but a favorite pizzeria has a to-die-for thick crust pizza topped with tomato, spinach, and artichoke. The waitress at this place just assumes that's what I'm going to order unless I flag her down to tell her otherwise. I tolerate the tomato because the other flavors are so sublime.

Recently, I had a slice of brick oven pizza at another favorite spot; this one was topped with pesto instead of tomato sauce. The wheels started turning. What if I combined my favorite thin crust with a layer of pesto, then added the fresh spinach, artichokes, and another favorite of mine--roasted red peppers. For this experiment, I decided to stay with the traditional mozzerella (though goat cheese was calling, "Choose me, choose me!"; another time).

The result was hands down the best combination of flavors on a pizza that I have ever had (and I've had lots).

Serves 2 - 3

If you don't have a favorite pizza recipe or a place to buy fresh dough, this is an excellent pizza dough recipe.

TOPPING:

extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pesto

quartered artichoke hearts

roasted red pepper slices

10 oz fresh spinach, cooked and squeezed dry

2 cups shredded mozzarella

grated cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, preheat it as well.

Lightly oil a large baking sheet. Roll, toss, flip, or stretch by any other method the dough to fit the bottom of the baking sheet.

Spread the pesto over the dough.

Layer the spinach, artichokes, and red peppers over the dough, then cover with the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top of the mozzarella.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese starts to turn golden on the edges.

Serve with a salad and a good bottle of Chianti. You'll think twice about tomato sauce after you've had a piece of this ambrosial combination.