Gourmet Pizza Time!

When you have a bunch of veggies you need to get rid of, a pizza is always a great idea. I am not a huge fan of red pizza sauce, so I prefer a white or pesto pizza. We got another bag of arugula this week from CSA and I'm tired of making Pecorino and Pepper Pasta. I searched on Tastespotting for some ideas for arugula and I decided to put it on a pizza. It has such a great flavor and brings in a nice peppery bite. I thought it would pair well with salty prosciutto and sweet caramelized onions. This pizza was, to say the least, beautiful. The bright green arugula, pink prosciutto, and white shaved parmesan made the pizza look great. The only downside was that the pesto made the pizza very oily. I bought the refrigerated small plastic tub from Trader Joe's. It's a great pesto sauce, but if I did it again, I would either use less or try to squeeze out some of the oil before spreading it on the dough. This pizza turned out wonderful and puts any gourmet pizza from Sauce to shame.

Arugula, Prosciutto, Caramelized Onions, and Shaved Parmesan Pizza

• Pre-baked pizza dough (I like to use the refrigerated bags from Trader Joe's)
• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• Pesto sauce (Store bought or make your own)
• Fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 1 package of prosciutto (about 4 oz), sliced into strips
• 1 1/2 c. fresh arugula, stems removed and coarsely ripped
• Shaved parmesan cheese

To prepare the caramelized onions, heat the olive oil in a small saute pan. Add the sliced onions, salt, and sugar and stir until the onions are soft and have a nice brown, caramel color. This will take about 20-30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven according to the pizza dough packaging, I set my oven to 450 degrees.

On the pre-baked pizza dough, spread the pesto sauce and leave a 1/2 inch crust. Place one layer of the sliced mozzarella on the pizza and sprinkle the caramelized onions on top. Lay about half of the prosciutto on the pizza and put in the oven for 10 minutes or until the crust is finished baking.

Remove from the oven and turn the oven off. Cover the pizza with the arugula. Take the remaining prosciutto strips and twirl them into mounds and place on the pizza. Sprinkle the shaved parmesan on top. 

Place the pizza back in the turned off oven for one minute to allow the arugula to to wilt a bit. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a little more of the shaved parmesan. 

Cut, serve, and enjoy!