Artichoke, Arugula Pesto, and Fontina pizza (Pizza Night!)

My dog apologizes for the poor quality of this photo.  No he doesn't, but it's his fault anyway.

I love artichokes on pizza.  Someday I'll put up my 'when my spouse is deployed and I make a pizza exactly the way I want it' pizza, but until then, this will suffice.  It hits almost all the notes I like in a pizza, and most everything for it is a pantry/freezer staple.  Including the arugula pesto!  I love how easy it is to grow arugula (rocket), but after a while I get sick of fresh arugula.  Thank goodness for Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables, where I picked up the arugula pesto recipe below.  If you don't have arugula pesto, any old pesto will do. Don't stress-it's Friday!

The red sauce and leftover breakfast sausage were for the kiddie pizza. 

Yes, some sausage made it onto this pizza too. One patty for both pizzas, though-just for flavor.

The cheese looks weird, mainly because it got soft while I was shredding it.  My bad.

Artichoke, Arugula Pesto, and Fontina Pizza (Pizza Night)

(Please see my Pizza Primer for hints and tips!)

3 Tablespoons arugula pesto (or the prepared pesto of your choice) UPDATE: See Note Below!

3/4 cup marinated artichoke hearts, drained, coarsely chopped

1 cup shredded Fontina cheese (note to self-next time, freeze the giant block a bit before shredding)

1 pound pizza dough (this week again from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stir finely pesto and artichoke together in a small bowl.  On a sheet of oiled parchment, stretch the dough out into a thin circle.  Get a call from your child that the dog has escaped his collar during his walk, and drive over to attempt to coax said dog into car.  Finally succeed by using the 'get in your crate' phrase while pointing at the open van door.  Dog apparently cannot learn the command 'come',  but does figure out that I mean 'van' when I say 'crate'.  Eventually.  Return home.  Oven is good and hot now.  Spread artichoke/pesto mixture over top.  Top with Fontina cheese. Slide the whole thing (dough and parchment paper) onto the baking stone that lives in the oven.  Bake 8 minutes.  Shake the pizza off the parchment paper onto the stone.  Bake a few more minutes until the cheese is bubbly.  Realize after all the excitement that it's too dark to take a photo of the pizzas out of the oven.  Ah, well.  Everyone made it home safe.  Cool pizza on a wire rack then slice and serve.

UPDATE:  I guess it's not a crime to share the amounts of the Arugula Pesto Recipe from Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables, but if you want a ton of delicious recipes get the book because this book has depths. Untold depths. You'll need 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, 2-3 cups packed arugula (the older stuff is great), 1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese, 1 clove garlic--or use roasted garlic if you like, 1/3-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Throw it in a food processor and have fun.

Kid pizza-sausage on one half, plain cheese on the other.