This is the second Friday in a row that Mike and I indulged in homemade pizza. There may be a Friday Night Pizza tradition in the works.

I love making pizza because the dough is very much like a blank canvas. You can twist a pizza’s ingredients to match any palette – Mexican? Italian? Thai? They’re all possible.

Tonight I decided to go the Italian route. Last night we made a run to our local Trader Joe’s and picked up some yummy ingredients, including whole wheat pizza dough and pizza sauce (thank you, Sandra Lee for embracing the semi-homemade concept!).

Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella, Onions, Mushrooms & Bresaola

Ingredients

• 1 Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 3 slices of bresaloa, julienned
• 1/4 cup Trader Joe’s pizza sauce
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
• Pepper
• Basil (fresh, if possible – we only had dried in stock)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and put the dough on the counter for 15-20 minutes to warm up. Lightly oil a baking sheet and set aside.
   In the meantime, slice the mozzarella, chop the mushrooms and onion, julienne the bresaloa and set aside.
2. Once the dough has warmed up sprinkle your counter and rolling pin with flour and roll out until thin. Place dough on oiled baking sheet, form a crust and add toppings. Add pepper and dried basil to liking.
3. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
4. Tip: For ultimate crispness, broil at 525 degrees for the last couple minutes.
5. If you have fresh basil, add to finished pizza.