It’s hard to get bored of pizza, but sometimes you want to change things up a bit. In addition to trying new toppings and cheeses, consider using an alternative to tomato sauce on pizza.
Pizza night is a cherished tradition in many households, but sometimes, it’s good to break away from the routine and experiment with new flavors. One of the easiest ways to do this is by trying out different alternative pizza sauces.
The other day Brion & I were in a Winners/Homesense store. Of course, my favorite spot is always the area where they have all the cookware and specialty food items. I saw bottled sauce made with artichokes and garlic. Immediately my thoughts were as to how I could use it. It was quite pricey, so I opted to try and make a copycat version at home.
While tomato sauce has long been associated with traditional pizza, there is a whole new world of flavors waiting to be discovered by breaking from tradition. Tradition of course has its place—there’s a reason classic tomato-topped pizza has been a staple for generations. But there is more to pizza sauce than regular tomato. There are exciting flavors, interesting textures, sweet things, spicy things, cheesy things, even exotic things!
Here are some ideas for making pizza without tomato sauce:
- White pizza – Make a white sauce with olive oil, garlic, parsley, and a dash of salt and pepper. Spread it on the pizza dough instead of tomato sauce. Top with cheeses like mozzarella, ricotta, or feta, and veggies.
- Pesto pizza – Spread pesto sauce on the dough instead of tomato sauce. Top with veggies and cheeses.
- BBQ chicken pizza – Use BBQ sauce as the base instead of tomato sauce. Top with chicken, red onion, cheddar cheese, etc.
- Mediterranean pizza – Make a tahini sauce base. Top with artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, feta, red onion, etc.
- Breakfast pizza – Scramble eggs with veggies and meats. Spread it on the dough. Sprinkle with cheeses.
- Buffalo chicken pizza – Spread buffalo wing sauce on the dough. Top with chicken, blue cheese, mozzarella, celery, onion.
- Thai pizza – Make a spicy peanut sauce base. Top with chicken, carrot, onion, cilantro, mozzarella.
- Carbonara pizza – Spread an alfredo sauce base. Top with bacon, onion, Parmesan, egg, parsley.
The best thing about pizza is that there are endless ways to enjoy it. So here you have it … shrimp pizza with artichoke & garlic sauce. Yum!
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- 398 ml artichoke hearts, packed in water, drained
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 4 large cloves of garlic (about 25 gm)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup (22.5 gm) Parmesan cheese, grated
- 3 slices bacon, cooked & chopped
- 300 gm WILD, jumbo shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 150 gm fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 150 gm red onion, sliced thinly
- 24 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 1/2 tsp snipped fresh oregano
- 340 gm (1 1/2 cups) mozzarella, shredded
Ingredients
Artichoke & Garlic Sauce
Pizza Toppings
Pizza Base
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- Place all ingredients except oil in food processor. With motor running, Add olive oil in a slow stream to make an emulsion. Place in a dish & set aside.
- Fry bacon until done but not crisp. Drain on a paper towel then chop into bite-sized pieces. In the same skillet, sauté shrimp until just cooked & remove it from skillet.
- Sauté sliced mushrooms & sliced onions until just cooked.
- Slice cherry tomatoes in halves & prepare fresh herbs.
- Shred mozzarella cheese.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Spread each naan bread with artichoke & garlic sauce.
- Top pizzas with onions, mushrooms, shrimp & bacon. Sprinkle shredded cheese over all then dot with halved cherry tomatoes & herbs.
- Bake 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly & tomatoes are roasted. Serve.
- You will no doubt have extra artichoke & garlic sauce. Store it in an air-tight container for up to one week. Enjoy it on toasted bread or swirl into cooked pasta.