almost Bottega worthy. [artichoke, prosciutto, mozzarella & ricotta whole wheat pizza]

My roommate and I had an urge to make pizza the other night (note why most of my photos are night shots–sorry). We were inspired by our new favorite pizza from Bottega Louie in Downtown LA–the Burrata pizza topped with burrata, Grana parmesan, rapini and Prosciutto di parma.

Though our pizza wasn’t to the standard of Bottega Louie, it was pretty dang close. The salty and somewhat crisp prosciutto was delicious with the creamy ricotta.

I included a few photos below of my roommate and I rolling out the dough, as I thought they were somewhat comical. We’re still pretty newly moved into our apartment, so we’re missing a few kitchen items (a rolling-pin in particular).

My method of simply using my hands wasn’t working well, so my roommate grabbed a bottle of champagne to roll out the dough. Initially, I doubted her idea, but surprisingly, the bottle did wonders! No, our pizza wasn’t perfectly circular, but it still tasted wonderful. :)

Recipe:

Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough

1 (14 oz.) can Trader Joe’s artichoke hearts

1 package high-quality deli sliced Prosciutto

10-12 tbsp. fresh ricotta cheese, dispersed throughout pizza

1 container fresh mozzarella, sliced

Arugula, use as desired

1/4 cup organic olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out dough on floured surface until reach desired size thickness.

In a small skillet, heat olive oil, then add minced garlic. Once garlic is browned, remove from heat and generously brush garlic oil over rolled out dough. Brush oil on edges (crust) as well.

Top pizza with mozzarella, arugula, artichoke hearts, prosciutto then ricotta. Cook pizza for about 20 minutes, until crust is golden and cheese is bubbling.

Remove pizza from oven then top with fresh arugula. Slice and serve.