Spelt Crust Pizza with Artichokes & Mushrooms

When I originally looked at this recipe I was a little thrown off by the idea of spelt flour in pizza dough. Honestly? What kind of health nut does that? haha. I was definitely wrong; spelt flour is delicious and now I want to put it in everything. It just adds this depth of flavour and texture to the crust while still allowing the crust to be delicate and crisp. Love it! I would highly recommend this recipe to anyone looking to jazz up their usual pizza and make it a little gourmet. You have to have a little gourmet on the weekend!

The recipe is from my Anna Olson cookbook Fresh (surprise, surprise!) and honestly, I have not been disappointed by anything out of this cookbook. Everything has been delicious and none of the recipes use processed or pre-packaged "convenience foods". And that is definitely a good thing these days because in my opinion, peopele eat far too many pre-packaged, store-bought foods that really aren't good for them. So try out this recipe - it will be ready before you wait for delivery pizza and it tastes 100x better! :)

Spelt Crust Pizza with Artichokes & Mushrooms

Recipe adapted from Anna Olson's cookbook Fresh, p 105

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup tepid water
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 pkg) instant dry yeast
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-14oz jar marinated artichokes
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• salt & pepper
• 1/4 cup basil pesto
• 3 tbsp sour cream (not low-fat)
• cornmeal for sprinkling
• 8-12 slices proscuitto ham
• 2 oz parmesan
• 1/3 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

Method:

1. For the dough, stir together the water & yeast, then stir in the flours, olive oil, and salt until the dough becomes difficult to work with a wooden spoon. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for just 1 minute, until it feels elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the toppings. In a large saute pan over medium heat add the olive oil. Add mushrooms and saute them until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir. Add the artichokes and lemon zest, warm through, and season to taste. In a small bowl, stir together the pesto and sour cream.
3. Preheat the oven to 500F. Place baking trays or pizza stones in the oven.
4. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece as thinly as possible to about 9 inches across (I made mine into rectangles to fit my baking trays). Remove the hot pans from the oven and sprinkle it lightly with cornmeal. Please the first rolled crust on the pan and spread it all over with a thin layer of the pesto mixture. Arrange 1/2 the prosciutto on top, spoon over half the mushroom-artichoke filling, and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the pizza is golden at the edges. Slide pizza off the pan and repeat with the second crust.
5. Grate parmesan over the cooked pizzas with a vegetable peeler, and top with the basil leaves immediately before serving.

This pizza is amazing! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :) You can also put about 1 cup of arugula leaves onto the pizza immediately before serving too, but I didn't.

Happy Cooking my Friends!