Mediterranean Pizza with Garlic Parmesan Sauce

Mediterranean Pizza with Garlic Parmesan Sauce

For all of my fellow pizza lovers, here’s a new one for you to try! It’s a vegetarian pizza but I’ve also made it with chunks of cooked pancetta. The garlic Parmesan sauce is delicious and really compliments the pizza. I had some leftover so we put it on top of chicken breasts for dinner the other night and it was amazing!

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(Dough will make two medium pizzas so be sure to double up the measurements for toppings if making two pizzas. If not you can freeze the other half of dough for another night!)

Ingredients for crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 ¼ cup warm water

3 tsp active dry yeast (one packet)

1 ½ tsp honey

3 ½ tsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp dried basil

1 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

Toppings:

3 Tbs garlic Parmesan sauce (ingredients follow)

1 roma tomato, chopped

¼ cup kalamata olives, halved

¼ cup pepperoncinis, chopped

¼ cup green bell pepper, chopped

¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

½ cup crumbled feta

Garlic Parmesan Sauce:

1 Tbs unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbs all-purpose flour

½ cup chicken broth

1/3 cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup grated Parmesan

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If you’re using your own dough recipe or a store-bought crust you can click here to skip past most of the pizza dough prep.

(1.) In a large bowl, stir together water, yeast, honey, and 1 ½ tsp olive oil. Let sit for 10 minutes or until foamy. (2.) Slowly stir in 2 ½ cups of flour, garlic salt, and basil. Once dough comes together, work in additional flour, and form into a ball. (3.) Knead for a few minutes on a floured surface. (4.) Rub the same bowl with olive oil, place dough back in, turning and flipping to coat in olive oil. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for an hour and a half.

After the dough has risen, punch it down on a floured surface, form into a ball, and put back in the bowl. Cover with a towel and let it sit for another 10 minutes.

When dough is done, cover your rolling pin with flour and roll dough into desired shape and size. Again, if you’re making two pizzas, divide your dough in half. You can freeze one half for a later date or cook them both.

Roll out dough slightly bigger than your pan. Slide your pan underneath the dough and carefully move the dough into place. (5.) Curl edges over and lightly press into dough to form a crust. (6.) Brush remaining olive oil all over dough and crust. (7. & 8.) Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over crust.

Prep your toppings, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and start on sauce.

(1.) Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat and add minced garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add flour until blended. (2.) Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk and change heat setting to low. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. (3.) Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. (4.) Use right away or store in the refrigerator for later.

Add 3 Tbs of garlic Parmesan sauce and layer on the toppings. Place in the oven to bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust just starts to get light brown.