Roasted Red Pepper Pizzas with Arugula...

You know we usually reserve our pizza nights for Friday evenings, but I shifted it to tonight as tomorrow is bound to be a wacky day with the moving truck being loaded and us getting ready to leave for Charlotte Saturday morning. I figured the simpler the better with this pie and when Jeff brought home a bunch of gorgeous arugula he saw at the farmers' market, I knew exactly what I was going to make - Roasted Red Pepper Pizzas with Arugula.

With our favorite, no nonsense whole-wheat pizza dough making up the crusty base (I went the 12 ounce route this time, but for extra thickness you could bump it up to the pound recipe), we split the bubbly risen dough in half, then stretched each out as thin as we could. Rather than using a tomato-based sauce, these pizzas are smeared with an unpretentious purée of roasted red peppers, modestly seasoned with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Roast your own bell peppers if you like, but I went the convenience route and used a jarred pepper that we drained well and seeded.

On top of each blushing red slick, we piled on thin slices of fresh mozzarella and since these were going to be quite clean, we then drizzled over a touch of fruity extra-virgin olive oil. I do recommend leaving a solid border around the edge, free from any sauce or cheese while assembling - as the pepper purée heats and the cheese melts, they will both expand and if you have that edge, you won't need to worry about messy spillovers.

I baked these pizzas one at a time, taking full advantage of the fiery hot baking stone we keep in the oven, but you could certainly transfer both to a large baking sheet and bake them at the same time. As the first came off the stone, we topped the gooey cheese with torn fresh basil leaves and the peppery arugula we found at the market. We didn't add the arugula on its own though as we dressed it with oil, salt and pepper first, then served the pizza wedges with a slice of lemon to squirt over the top for an acidic bite.

I did add the basil to the hot second pizza, but left the arugula for this one undressed and in a separate container. We plan to tear into the second tomorrow for lunch, adding the arugula when serving to keep its freshness.

Recipes
Roasted Red Pepper Pizzas with Arugula