Clean-out-the-fridge pizza

I love homemade pizza - it's so easy and a great way to use up odds and ends that you have on hand. Tonight's pizza was inspired by the contents of my fridge and freezer. I keep balls of pizza dough in the freezer for future use - all they need is to defrost for a day in the fridge and they're ready to go. This was the whole wheat pizza dough from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book. While I stretched out the dough, I preheated the oven to 500 degrees. On the dough, I smeared a few tablespoons of basil pesto and added half a can of drained diced tomatoes. I made sure the tomatoes were really dry so that I didn't end up with soggy pizza. Next up was the cheese - I added a handful of blue cheese, about 1/2 cup of crumbled feta and a very generous grating of parmigiano reggiano. For the toppings, I chose prosciutto, cooked bacon, artichoke hearts and piquillo peppers.

I assembled my pizza on parchment paper atop a cookie sheet. When the oven was ready, I slid the pizza, parchment and all, onto the pizza stone. I lowered the oven temperature to 450 and baked the pizza until the cheese was melted and crust browned, about 15 minutes. I wasn't exactly sure how this would turn out, given the strong, salty nature of the cheeses and toppings, but the ingredients melded nicely to make a delicious dinner!