A while back we tried a new pizza place called MOD Pizza. It reminded me of a Chipotle, but for pizza. You could choose one of their specialty pizzas from their simple menu or build your own pizza. The pizza is prepared – built – in front of you in assembly line fashion and then baked quickly in their pizza oven.
On our first visit I was feeling a little adventurous, so I tried their Lucy Sunshine pizza off their simple menu. I can’t say I’ve tried artichokes up to this point, but I haven’t found a vegetable I haven’t liked yet so why not? The Lucy Sunshine includes MOD’s signature crust, garlic, mozzarella, Parmesan, artichokes, and dollops of their red sauce. It was really good!
A couple weeks ago I took a shot at making my own version at home. It turned out great, but still needed a little tweaking. Last night was take 2 at making my semi-homemade version – I cheat a little by using Pillsbury’s thin pizza crust.
Joe’s Artichoke Pizza
First thing I did was put together the red sauce and put it in the refrigerator for about an hour to let the ingredients blend. I “wing it” when it came to measurements on the sauce. You can add/reduce ingredients to suit your taste.
I preheated the oven to 450° – the temperature on the pre-made pizza crust directions.
After spraying the baking sheet with non-stick spray – I used butter flavored – I laid out the pre-made pizza crust.
I minced the garlic and then let it bask in the goodness of olive oil for a while. Then I poured the oil and garlic on top of the pizza crust and used my fingers to spread it around so each part of the crust had a thin layer of olive oil.
I spread the mozzarella across the crust trying to get cheese just as close to the edge while still leaving a little bare crust to hold onto.
I choose to dice up the quartered artichoke hearts into smaller pieces and spread it around the pizza. You could leave them quartered, however, if you prefer. I wanted enough to taste the artichoke, but not enough to overwhelm the flavor of the pizza.
I put the pizza the oven for 12-14 minutes and rotated it 180° half way through the cooking time so it would bake more evenly. Keep a close eye on the crust – you don’t want it to burn.
Final result!
Ingredient List
Joe’s Red Sauce
- small can of tomato sauce
Parmesan – 1 tablespoon
garlic powder*
oregano*
basil*
marjoram*
crushed red pepper flakes – 1/2 tsp may be spicy to some, start with less
salt – to taste
pepper – to taste
*Start with 1/2 teaspoon unless otherwise noted and adjust to taste.
Artichoke & Garlic Pizza
- 1 – Pillsbury ready made pizza crust
1 – 8 oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
2 – tablespoons of olive oil
2 – medium cloves of garlic
1 – jar marinated artichoke hearts
Looks good! I always use the “canned” pizza doughs, too. I will say, though — they’re a little “buttery.” I don’t think pizza’s supposed to be buttery in flavor, but I like them well enough to keep using them! 🙂