Easy Pesto Pizza
This was inspired by an appetizer that used to be on the Applebee's menu - The Veggie Patch Pizza. Essentially it was cheese and spinach artichoke dip spread on a tortilla and put under the broiler. It was a delicious light appetizer or meal and sadly is no longer on their menu. This inspired me to try to recreate it.
I first tried spreading spinach artichoke dip on a tortilla and sticking it in the oven. This gave mixed results with a wet soggy crust. To correct the crust issue I bought a pizza pan with holes in it which solved the soggy crust problem. Then I started trying other items on top, my favorite being pesto spread. The time and temperature setting that seem to work best are 7 minutes at 400 degrees. The pizza goes from undone, to perfectly done, to burnt in a matter of about 2 minutes so the pizza needs to be watched closely at the end of the cooking time. My old oven had a separate broiler element on the top of the oven so I would bake it for 6 minutes and then turn the broiler on for 1 minute to brown the top. I still try this with my new oven, but it has a single burner with a broiler drawer which I hate because I can't watch the food in the broiler. I'm sure the broiler drawer/single burner saves a few bucks making the oven, but it's a stupid idea. I just bought an Oster Convention/Pizza Oven. It has a pizza drawer which works well, but again, I can't see it when it's cooking so I'm constantly pulling it out to check it. It cooks the pizza in about 5 minutes. Anyway on to the recipe...
Ingredients:
Sun dried tomato & basil or spinach herb wrap
Pesto spread
Shredded cheese
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
1 - Place wrap on non-stick pizza pan with holes.
2 - Spread a thin layer of pesto over the wrap making sure to get close to the edge.
3 - Optional: add other ingredient of your choice such as mushrooms, sausage, pepperoni, pot roast, onions, sardines, etc.
4 - Sprinkle with cheese.
5 - Bake for approximately 7 minutes at 400 degrees.
6 - Every oven is different so watch closely, it will go from done to burnt in just a few seconds.
7 - To brown the cheese, use broiler for last minute of cooking.
I first tried spreading spinach artichoke dip on a tortilla and sticking it in the oven. This gave mixed results with a wet soggy crust. To correct the crust issue I bought a pizza pan with holes in it which solved the soggy crust problem. Then I started trying other items on top, my favorite being pesto spread. The time and temperature setting that seem to work best are 7 minutes at 400 degrees. The pizza goes from undone, to perfectly done, to burnt in a matter of about 2 minutes so the pizza needs to be watched closely at the end of the cooking time. My old oven had a separate broiler element on the top of the oven so I would bake it for 6 minutes and then turn the broiler on for 1 minute to brown the top. I still try this with my new oven, but it has a single burner with a broiler drawer which I hate because I can't watch the food in the broiler. I'm sure the broiler drawer/single burner saves a few bucks making the oven, but it's a stupid idea. I just bought an Oster Convention/Pizza Oven. It has a pizza drawer which works well, but again, I can't see it when it's cooking so I'm constantly pulling it out to check it. It cooks the pizza in about 5 minutes. Anyway on to the recipe...
Ingredients:
Sun dried tomato & basil or spinach herb wrap
Pesto spread
Shredded cheese
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
1 - Place wrap on non-stick pizza pan with holes.
2 - Spread a thin layer of pesto over the wrap making sure to get close to the edge.
3 - Optional: add other ingredient of your choice such as mushrooms, sausage, pepperoni, pot roast, onions, sardines, etc.
4 - Sprinkle with cheese.
5 - Bake for approximately 7 minutes at 400 degrees.
6 - Every oven is different so watch closely, it will go from done to burnt in just a few seconds.
7 - To brown the cheese, use broiler for last minute of cooking.
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