Recipes

Black Olive, Artichoke and Pesto Pizza with Olive, Sun-dried Tomato and Rosemary Crust

Provided by Jessie Grearson, Falmouth, ME: Grand Prize Winner of the Lindsay Olive Pizza Recipe Challenge!

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At a Glance:

Prep Time:

30 minutes

Cook Time:

12 minutes

Other Time:

Allow 1 – 1 ½ hours for dough to rise

Servings:

6

This pizza incorporates the flavor profile of my favorite olive tapenade (black olive, lemon, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes) into the crust. The crust is really attractive with bits of black olive and red tomato showing, and the flavors delicious: no one leaves a bit of crust! I have also made it with chopped Kalamata olives in the crust; excellent! You can use store dough in a pinch and knead in the dough ingredients. But home made is of course better.

Ingredients

For the dough (enough for two crusts):
1-1/2 cups warm water (110oF.)
1 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
3 to 3-1/4 cups pizza flour or all purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped Lindsay® Pitted Ripe Olives
1/4 cup chopped drained sun dried tomatoes in oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

Toppings (for one pizza; double if you’d like to make two):
1/4 cup good-quality pesto** (recipe for homemade follows)
1/4 cup sliced Lindsay® Pitted Ripe Olives
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup chopped ripe tomato, well drained
1/4 cup chopped drained marinated artichoke hearts
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 cup grated fontina cheese
2 tablespoons grated asiago cheese
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil and/or parsley

Directions:

For the dough, combine warm water and yeast; mix well and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in oil, sugar and salt. Stir in whole wheat flour. Stir vigorously and blend in 2 cups of pizza flour, olives, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, lemon zest and rosemary. Add more pizza flour until dough is no longer sticky. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead 3 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic, adding a small amount of more flour as necessary. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl; turn dough over. Let rise in a warm place 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until almost doubled in size. Punch dough down. Divide dough in half and reserve one half for another pizza or to make calzones.*

Heat oven to 450oF. To assemble pizza, place dough on a large round pizza stone (14”) or 12-inch pizza pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Stretch and pat dough to a 12-inch circle. Spread pesto evenly over dough. Top with olives, onion, tomato, artichoke hearts and feta cheese. Sprinkle fontina and asiago cheeses over pizza; drizzle olive oil over pizza. Top with herbs and, if desired, freshly ground pepper to taste. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, or until crust is deep golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Transfer to a carving board; cut into 6 slices.

Kitchen Tips:

*The dough may be refrigerated for next day use; bring to room temperature before using.

**For homemade pesto in a food processor or blender, process:
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, no stems
1 large clove fresh garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup good quality grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
(makes about 1/2 cup)