This is a basic, delicious tomato and cheese pizza with additional flavor from fresh basil, Parmesan, and kale. This kale is precooked, but you can also use uncooked, massaged kale that becomes a bit crunchy. So many toppings taste great with kale; see sidebar for more ideas.
Ingredients
- 3 cups kale (stripped from stalk, roughly chopped, rinsed, and dried)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- Salt
- 1 ball pizza dough
- Cornmeal, for sprinkling
- ¾ cup easy pizza sauce
- ¼ cup slivered fresh basil
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan
- 1 cup grated mozzarella or sliced fresh mozzarella, or more as desired
How to Make It
- Place the pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450°F for 30 minutes.
- Bring about 4 cups of water to a boil in a sauté pan with a lid and add the kale. Cover and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Strain in a colander, and shake several times to release the steam and stop the cooking. Dry the same skillet and heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring the whole time to prevent the garlic from burning. Turn off the heat, add the kale, and season with salt to taste. You should have about 1 cup of the cooked kale mixture.
- Stretch the pizza dough into a 12-inch round. Sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal and place the dough on it (or place on a pizza pan or cooking sheet, either lined with a piece of parchment paper or greased with olive oil). Spread the pizza sauce on the dough with the back of a spoon, leaving a ½-inch border. Distribute the fresh basil and Parmesan over the sauce. Top with the mozzarella and the cooked kale.
- Slide the pizza onto the stone and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges of the crust are golden.
