Meatless Monday: Very Veggie Pizza with Marinated Artichokes

Pizza!  Is one of the greatest food items ever created.  I’ve loved pizza my whole life and it’s been part of some defining moments in my life.  I’ve eaten the worst pizza on earth at the Navy Exchange Cafeteria in Yokuska, Japan while going to high school there as a Navy brat.  I’ve spent many a Friday evening in high school eating pizza at Fillippi’s in Lemon Grove, California after Mount Miguel High School football games.  In 1982 when I gave up drinking I even thought I’d never be able to eat pizza again because the thought of not having a beer with my pizza was beyond my understanding.

Tonight was another of those defining moments.  Pizza without meat!  I’m sure I broke some obscure law of nature with a veggie pizza.  It has to be so.  But what’s worst of all is that I actually enjoyed it.  This will have to be our little secret.  Now before anyone thinks I’ve gone off the deep end and become a vegetarian I’d still prefer a pizza loaded with sausage but for Meatless Monday this was one darn good pizza.

The recipe I used was the “Very Veggie Grilled Pizza with Marinated Artichokes from Grill Every Day: 125 Fast-Track Recipes for Weeknights at the Grill by Diane Morgan.  It was flavorful and I really didn’t feel the need for meat at all.

Very Veggie Grilled Pizza with Marinated Artichokes

(Courtesy “Grill Every Day 125 Fast-Track Reipes for Weeknights at the Grill” by Diane Morgan.  Published 2008 by Chronicle Books)

• 1 16- to 18-ounce package of fresh or frozen dough
• 1/2 small Walla Walla or other sweet onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 small yellow or red bell pepper, halved lengthwise, seeded, deribbed, and cut into long, narrow strips.
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoons extra-vergin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• vegetable-oil cooking spray
• All-Purpose flour for dusting
• 1/4 cup store-bought marinara sauce
• 1 jar (6 ounces) marinated artichoke hears, well drained and halved
• 2 plum tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup pitted and halved canned ripe olives
• 2 cups (8 ounces) coursely shredded whole-mile or part-skim, low-moisture mozzarella cheese.

If using fresh dough, remove it from the refrigerator 30 minutes before you roll it out.  If using frozen dought, transfer it to the refrigerator a day before you plan to make pizza, so it can thaw slowly, and then let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes feore you roll it out.

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill on hight.  If the grill has a built-in thermometer, it should register between 500 and 600 degrees.  Have ready a 14-inch, non perforated pizza pan, preferably an inexpensive aluminum one.

While the grill is heating, place the onion, bell pepper, and the garlice in a bowl.  Toss the vegetables with the olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes and salt.  Set aside.

Coat the pizza pan with vegetable-oil spray.  Remove the dough from the plastic bag and place on a lightly floured work surface.  Lightly dust the dough with flour.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10-inch road without rolling over the edges.  Lift the dough occasionally to make sure it isn’t sticking to the work surface.  Shake the excess flour from the dough.  Lay the dough on the prepared pizza pan and gently stretch it into a 14-inch round.

To top the pizza:  Spread the marinara sauce over the crust, leaving a 1-inch border.  Arrange the mixed vegetables evenly over the sauce.  Scatter the artichokes over the top.  Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer over the vegetables.  Strew the olives over the top.  Evently distribute the cheese over the vegetables.

Place the pizza in the center of the grill directly over the hot fire and cover.  (Work quickly so the grill temperature doesn’t drop too much.)  grill the pizza until the crust is crisp and golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 9 minutes.

Using a pizza peel or think oven mitts, remove the pizza from the frill.  Slice the pizza into wedges and serve immediately.

To make life easier you can use store bought or frozen pizza dough but with a wife who bakes having homemade dough is a great addition to any pizza.

With sweet onion, bell peppers, olive, tomatoes and marinated artichokes the pizza was loaded with flavor.

I used a pizza stone on my Traeger smoker instead of a grill. This pizza can be grilled very easy using an indirect method on a kettle or ceramic smoker

By cranking the smoker up to 425 degrees I got a nice browning on the crust. Not only did I never think I'd eat a meatless pizza but I never thought I'd eat a thin crust pizza. The cracker like texture of the thin crust was fantastic with the veggies.

This was a great pizza.

The recipe calls for store bought marinara sauce.  If your house is like mine you often times have a jar of store bought marinara sauce, but on those occasions when you don’t here is a simple, easy to make marinara/pizza sauce recipe you can use in a pinch.

Quick And Easy Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes in puree

• 1/2 teaspoon each dried basil and oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a medium-size saucepan. Stir in the chopped onion and sauté it for about 8 minutes, until translucent. Stir in the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds.
2. Stir the remaining ingredients into the pan, then cover the sauce and bring it back to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook the sauce for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 4 cups.