I know we just celebrated Valentine’s Day yesterday and all, but come on, let’s be honest, pizza is the way to just about everyone’s heart. It’s carby, cheesy and in today’s case, has plenty of mediterranean roasted red peppers and basil. <–my favorite kind of pizza! This is the pizza I literally grew up eating and I cannot believe I have waited so long to share it with you guys. It’s probably my favorite pizza combo. As a kid, I’d pick off all the roasted red peppers and eat them before anyone else got the chance. Again, I was a weird, veggie loving, freakish kind of kid (still kind of sort of am). My dad would make this on either a Friday or Saturday night and I always looked forward to it. The only real difference is that dad would use this horrible store-bought pizza crust that literally tasted like cardboard. These days I make my own dough, but still use all his toppings, which mainly consist of mozzarella cheese, red bell peppers and basil. Dad’s pretty simple when it comes to cooking, but this pizza is the BEST. It’s very similar to this pasta he makes…actually, this is the pizza version of that pasta…and it is so good.
When my dad would cook, he’d never use a recipe. He used whatever he had on hand, meaning he really never made the same dish twice, but it’s cool cause whatever he made typically turned out pretty good, especially his pasta and his pizza. So even though the dishes where slightly different every time, this is the combo dad would use most…and the combo I loved best. …pizza crust: highly recommend this recipe as opposed to the pre-made cardboard kind dad used to buy, or simply buy fresh dough from the grocery. just sayin’. …olive oil: white pizza all the way. …fresh garlic: this wasn’t always added, but I am a garlic lover. …dried basil and oregano: a must for ample flavor. …crushed red pepper flakes: always add a little heat. …kalamata olives: my dad’s favorite part, got to love the salty olives. …sun-dried tomatoes: like sweet, sweet candy. TIP: I use the oil in the sun-dried tomato jar in place of olive oil, it adds so much flavor. …mozzarella: the more the better. …pepperoni: kind of the odd ball ingredient, but my dad would always add them and they just work. If you’re a vegetarian though, leave them off. No big deal. …tons and tons of thinly sliced red bell peppers: the key here is to slice them very thin so that they get really roasted and begin to char. They are soooooooo good this way, and the best part to this pizza…well, in my opinion. …tons and tons of fresh basil: in the summer my dad would grabs fresh basil from the garden. oh my gosh. the smell. I loved it! The only thing I added was a little fontina cheese, which never did anyone any harm. <–ahh obviously because the more cheese the better!
What’s odd about this pizza is that if you use my whole wheat dough, this is actually a really pretty healthy pizza. Whole wheat, topped with olive oil, protein packed mozzarella, and piled high with veggies. OKOK, so it’s healthy by my standards. 🙂 Either way you’d like to look at it, you have to give this pizza a try. Its simple Mediterranean flavor combo is one that cannot be beat, and the roasted peppers on top are honestly life changing. Ahh, ok fine, that’s kind of dramatic, but man, I love those peppers! In other news, I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day and celebrated with people you love and plenty of chocolate! Ok, the only thing left to do here is to actually make this mediterranean roasted red pepper pizza!! Cause Wednesday needs some help getting over, and pizza is the answer.
Never enough pizza. Clearly.
