How to Sneak Vegetables into Your Pizza

You can turn your pizza from guilt food into health food without sacrificing the taste. Vegetables like spinach and zucchini are subtle enough to blend into the stronger flavors of tomato, garlic and basil. And with their amazing shrinking properties, you can hide them under the cheese leaving your kids none the wiser. Just follow these instructions.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pizza crust
• Tomato sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Your choice of toppings
• Pesto sauce
• 1 bunch of spinach
• 1 zucchini
• Wok or large frying pan
• Cheese grater
• Pizza pan

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Wash the spinach thoroughly in warm water. Cut off the stems and cut the leaves into two or three pieces.

3. Wash the zucchini and grate it on the cheese grater.

4. Put a large dollop of pesto sauce in the wok and turn on the heat. When the pesto has melted and the olive oil in the sauce has greased the pan, throw in the veggies.

5. Stir everything together and cover it. Turn the heat down to a simmer. The water in the zucchini will cook the veggies and make them shrink.

6. Check on the mixture every few minutes, making sure there is enough pesto for oil and stirring as necessary. It should cook down to a thick, green paste.

7. When the veggies are done, spread a thick layer onto the pizza crust and put it in the oven.

8. Grate the cheese and chop any other toppings you have. When the crust has been in the oven for five minutes, take it out.

9. Cover the veggies with a layer of tomato sauce, and follow with cheese and toppings.

10. Bake the pizza for ten to fifteen minutes.

11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for ten minutes before cutting.

Tips & Warnings

• This recipe also works great with white sauce, or with pesto sauce alone.