Goat Cheese Pesto Pizza

Nom, Nom, Nom.... things I love 1) goat cheese, 2) pesto, 3) pizza. This works out beautifully. Max Man had requested that we do a pizza night soon. Last spring we frequently made our own pizzas so I thought it would be a great "date night in" meal for us this Friday evening, slightly revamped. I googled a goat cheese pesto pizza and found numerous recipes to help tailor my compilation of ingredients and make the right version for our taste buds. I wanted to add chicken chunks and sun-dried tomatoes to the toppings, making sure my chicken had a good long pesto bath to enhance the basil flavor. I accidentally chose the sun-dried tomatoes that were vacuum packaged rather than ones in oil. When I tried to cut them, I couldn't, so I used regular tomatoes in my fridge instead.

The bakery sold me fresh dough that they use for their pizzas in house at Whole Foods. Why re-invent the wheel when you have such wonderful dough at your disposal? Ok, truth be told, I'm just not feeling ambitious enough to whip up our own, maybe another time.

Grocery list:
- Batch of basic pizza dough
- 1/3 cup basil pesto
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (low fat, part skim)
- 2 oz. crumbled goat cheese
- Tomato, chopped
- 2 small chicken breasts, chopped
- Red onion, chopped

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Using a cookie sheet or pizza pan, spread your dough out into your desired shape. Dork moment, I did try the "pizza toss" and it absolutely did not work for me. I settled on my best attempt at a circle...


Next, take your pesto and spread it across the dough evenly until fully covered.


I then chopped the chicken and put it in a container with pesto, shake it up to coat.


Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese across the pesto. Follow in suit with the goat cheese.


Add your tomatoes, followed by your chicken and strips of red onion.


Put your pizza in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and slightly browned. Simply divine!


This reaffirmed my love for goat cheese, pesto and pizza. I hope you enjoy it like we did!