Artichoke Pesto and Burrata Pizza with Lemony Arugula.

Artichoke Pesto and Burrata Pizza with Lemony Arugula…for those nights when you’re looking for a really good pizza, but you also need a salad. Homemade pizza dough topped with basil pesto, olives, spinach, and artichokes, baked until the crust is golden and perfect. As soon as the pizza comes out of the oven, top it with fresh burrata cheese and a simple herby, lemony arugula. Every last bite of this pizza is delicious and super fresh. Making it the perfect January pizza. It’s cheesy, but veggie filled too. Balance.

I don’t know if pizza fits into your “Healthy January” eats, but it surely fits into mine.

Don’t you see all those greens? And those veggies underneath the greens, and those fresh herbs, and that lemon? This is a true salad pizza, and honestly, it’s the type of pizza of my dreams. I’ve been craving pizza the last few weeks, and I could not love this one more. It’s everything I could ever want from a pizza.

Oddly, this pizza was inspired by my soon to be sister in-law, who is currently doing a 3-day juice cleanse. Yesss, 3 days of nothing but juice! There’s nothing that sounds worse to me than consuming only fluids for 3 whole days. I truly don’t think I could do it. Thankfully for you guys, I have no plans of juice cleanses here, and only see more pizzas in my future.

Truthfully, I don’t really believe in these juice cleanses or new year’s diets. I know that everyone is different, and has different health needs, but I’m much more about enjoying real food, and everything in moderation. I feel that if we restrict the foods we really want, we’ll one, be unhappy, and two, end up binge eating and or developing unhealthy eating habits. Again, I get that everyone one’s different, but I think you should eat what makes you feel your best. For me, that lots of greens and vegetables, colorful fruits, healthy grains, and yes, cheese too. Sorry, no liquid diets for 3 days for me!

Who’s with me? I polled on Instagram and 99.5% of you are with me so far. GREAT. So let’s talk pizza!

As I said, this pizza was inspired by my very soon to be sister-in-law, Lyndsie (the wedding is in September). She not only loves pizza, but loves a good arugula salad, complete with artichokes, fresh herbs, and a lemon vinaigrette. When I was brainstorming pizza ideas, I thought why not combine that combo into a pesto pizza with burrata and arugula on top.

It sounded too good, so here we are today. The pizza with salad on top.

I topped homemade pizza dough (it’s whole wheat…so healthier, right?!) with a generous amount of basil pesto, green olives, a little baby spinach, and marinated artichokes. Then I threw it into the pizza oven and baked it until the crust was crisp on the outside, but soft and chewy in the center.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, add the burrata. Allow the cheese to sit atop the pizza for a few minutes to melt. Oh so heavenly.

Now, since I know I will get asked this question, yes you can use another cheese like fresh mozzarella. But before you do, just check with your local grocery store to see if they carry burrata cheese. It’s commonly sold almost everywhere now, so I think most of you should be able to find it! And trust me, it’s soooo worth locating, because burrata cheese is like no other. Think mozzarella on the outside, but creamy ricotta on the inside. So good!

Moving beyond the cheese and onto the greens.

While the pizza is baking, mix up that lemony arugula topping. It’s a very simple mix of olive oil, lemon, fresh arugula, basil, dill, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes – for heat, and toasted pine nuts for a little crunch.

It’s herby, with a lemony, peppery bite. Perfect atop a veggie filled burrata pizza pie.

And with that, I know it’s only Thursday, but Thursday night pizza is sounding pretty good to me.

If you make this pizza, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

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