I have made this pizza a few times now and thought I would share how fabulous it is with you guys! This recipe is modified a tad from one that Poppytalk shared a while back and is every bit as incredible as suggested on that post! I use the crust recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches, recommended by Poppytalk and yes, it's the easiest crust ever… it's just so fast! I add a few twists that make it a bit more healthy yet still super tasty and very quick to complete.
Total time for this pizza is 30 minutes including prep time and cook time! If you have ever had the pleasure of making pizza with homemade dough, you know this is super duper fast!
Note: This pizza is so fabulous because it's fast, easy and tastes amazing, but I use a mod of this recipe with cheese and basil or tomatoes and basil with equally amazing results…so just know this can be adapted as you like and it's really just the crust and prep you need to pay attention to here unless you want to try this as you see it here.
To begin: preheat oven to 425 degrees
Prepare your crust…
Crust Ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast
1 c warm water
2 1/2 c flour (I use whole wheat flour)
1 t honey
1 t salt
2 T olive oil
In a large bowl, add in the yeast and warm water and stir until the yeast dissolves. Add the flour, salt, honey, and olive oil and stir with a wooden spoon vigorously until combined. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
While your dough is resting, grease a walled cookie sheet with a bit of olive oil.
Prepare your ingredients for the pizza…
Pizza Ingredients:
1/4 head of escarole, torn
1 large handful of basil, torn
1 large peach, sliced
flakey salt, freshly ground pepper
1 1/2-2 cups shredded mozzarella (feel free to use fresh, you will need considerably less if you do, but shredded is easier for me since we keep on hand)
Press your dough into the walled cookie sheet until it's relatively flat and thin and press it up a tad around the edges. You can see I use a round cookie sheet for my pizzas and this is simply preference and you can easily use a rectangular sheet as well.
Drizzle or rub a tiny bit of olive oil over the top of your dough and around the edges. This will help it brown properly. Layer on your escarole so that it's evenly spread. Since I have a toddler I use this sparingly since he is frightfully offended by anything green on a pizza…
Add your peach slices… these give the pizza a wonderful salty sweet taste that is hard to describe but oh so amazing. It tastes nothing like peaches on a pizza might sound.
Give your entire pizza a good sprinkle of flakey salt and freshly ground pepper. Don't go overboard because the mozzarella will naturally salty this pizza up.
Add your cheese and cover your previous ingredients. This is another reason why shredded is easier, it sprinkles well…
I like to add the basil at the end, but you can easily add it in along with the escarole or before the cheese at some point if you prefer. I adore basil so I love it heavy, but again…the green offends the Monster Mash so we leave it on the light side!
If you are making this pizza with these ingredients or with fresh tomatoes or something of the sort, you are going to bake for around 18-20 minutes on the center rack. If you chose a cheesy creation without water retaining fruit or veg, then you may need to reduce your cook time to closer to 15-18 minutes max.
When she's finished cooking, slice it on up, this will make it easier. Let it cool before you dive in, this baby will be hot!
