Brussels Sprouts and Pesto Pizza

By courtneyepowell

Ingredients

• For the Pesto:
• 1 cup smoked almonds
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• For the Pizza:
• 1/2 pound Brussels sprouts
• 1 pizza crust – store bought whole wheat, or homemade
• 4 oz lowfat goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups arugula
• 1/4 cup crumbled, cooked chicken sausage
• 1 tsp salt

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from thebarrestudio.wordpress.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place pizza stone or baking sheet in over 1 hour prior to cooking pizza.
To make the pesto, place almonds in a pan and heat over medium, stirring frequently, until toasted and fragrant. Transfer to a food processor and add olive oil, parsley and lemon zest. Blend on high, slowly pouring in sherry vinegar, until smooth. Set aside.

Peel the large, outer leaves from Brussels sprouts and collect until you have 2 cups. Set aside. Save the smaller, inner leaves for another dish, if desired.
Lightly flour a work surface and roll out pizza dough as thinly as possible.
Spread goat cheese evenly over stretched dough and top with red pepper flakes, arugula and sausage. Evenly distribute Brussels sprouts leaves over the top. Transfer pizza to the warmed stone or pan in oven and back for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, season with salt and drizzle with 2 tbsp pesto. let cool for 5 minutes; cut and serve with additional pesto on the side, if desired.