Not Exactly Cupcakes - Homemade Pizza

It has been awhile since I offered a new cupcake recipe to the blog. Baking is more difficult with a broken bone chip in my left arm from falling two weeks ago, but I hope to return to baking mode soon. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy seeing the dynamite vegetarian pizza that my husband, Mark, and I created last evening.

With our basil plant growing out of control, I had every intention of slathering some fresh pesto across the ready-made crust we purchased on Saturday. I never seem to lose interest in this luscious sauce that we've made for 25 years - especially when the basil just came from the garden - but Mark thought otherwise. So I rummaged through the cupboard and found a large can of crushed tomatoes in heavy puree, which could serve as sauce if I added seasonings.

Then I had him open the cans of tomato and artichoke hearts because I can't use a manual can-opener at the moment (this is the first time in my life I've ever thought about buying an electric opener, but only in passing!). Mark diced a small zucchini, and the artichoke hearts into bite-sized pieces. He minced some onion and garlic and sauteed them lightly as I headed to the garden for some fresh basil leaves to use as garnish.

I covered the crust with tomatoes and sprinkled oregano generously across the sauce. Zucchini and artichoke heart slices came next, followed by the garlic and onion. I nearly covered everything with a large handful of fresh basil leaves and, finally, we laid strips of sliced mozzarella across the top. Seven minutes on bake and 3 more on broil yielded a healthy and satisfying dinner. Thank heaven Mark was there to transport the pan from oven to counter and cut our large slices!

VOE - We like red onion on our pizza because it seems to add some extra sweetness. Another nice topping for homemade pizza is black olives. Shrimp is a nice add-on too, especially with pesto :)