YYC Pizza Week creates a delicious competition between restaurants and bloggers each year to benefit charity. This year, part of the proceeds from each participating pizza sold go towards Calgary Meals on Wheels. Sponsored by The Italian Store, the bloggers were asked to create pizzas using a minimum of 2 out of the 4 ingredients from their store: Feta/Goat Cheese, Marinated Artichoke Hearts, Tuscan Antipasti and Nduja (spicy, spreadable pork salami popular on pizzas in Italy). I chose to use Goat Cheese (a staple in my house) and Marinated Artichoke Hearts to create a twist on my go-to pizza. (Feel free to vote for us 👉 http://yycpizzaweek.com/food-blogger-challenge.html

My favourite, and therefore go-to, pizza is a simple pizza that lets the ingredients shine. It has a roasted garlic and olive oil base (because who doesn’t LOVE roasted garlic – seriously, I want names) and tops the pizza with a combination of light but delicious ingredients. The sauteed onions and balsamic crema balance their sweetness with the saltiness of the prosciutto and acidity in the roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts. It’s all topped with creamy goat cheese and peppery arugula to create a balanced pizza that doesn’t leave you feeling over-full after you devour an entire one to yourself (is there really any other way to eat pizza? I think not.).

INGREDIENTS

2 small pre-baked pizza crusts*
1 large head roasted garlic
2 tbs olive oil
2 large onions, sliced & sauteed
340ml jar of sliced roasted red peppers**
100ml jar marinated artichoke hearts**, diced
100g prosciutto
150g goat cheese
100g arugula
Balsamic crema

*I have also been known to use naan bread as a base if I am lazy and don’t have any pizza dough or crust in the house. Works great for a work-night cheat!

**The peppers and artichoke hearts come in jars with oil. Remove the vegetables from the oil and pat dry between sheets of paper towel to removed excess oil before adding to the pizzas.

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 425F. On each of the pizzas, cover the crusts with half of the roasted garlic and 1 tbs of olive oil. Spread evenly. Continue to layer the pizzas, splitting ingredients evenly between the two, with the onions, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, prosciutto and goat cheese. Place in the oven until ingredients are heated through and cheese is slightly melted.

Remove from the oven. Distribute the arugula between the two pizzas and drizzle with balsamic crema to finish.

Serve immediately.

Makes 2 small pizzas.