Pepita Pesto Pizza with Sweet and Spicy Peppers {& Fire Safety}

Has this ever happened to you?

Picture this: It’s a cold, blustery night.  The wind is blowing so hard that I think my windows are going to implode.  Hubby had already left for work about 4:30 am.  I have fallen back into a deep, restful, warm sleep, all nestled into my down comforter and fluffy pillow.   

I’m dreaming...  The microwave keeps beeping; the food must be ready.  But there is no food, so why does the microwave keep beeping!?  

I get more and more annoyed with the microwave, and slowly start to wake up.  Oh wait… the beeping is happening in real life.  What the…!?!?!  The damn smoke detector in our bedroom is beeping.  I put the pillow over my head to try and fall back asleep.  But of course, all I can focus on is the beeping.  Every 10 seconds.  MEHHHH! (that’s the sound of the beep).  Why is this beep so loud and high-pitched?!  UGHH.  Who invented these stupid fire alarms!?  Why would they invent something that beeps at 5 o’clock in the morning?!  Can’t they program fire alarms so they only beep when I’m awake, at normal person hours?!

So I get out of bed, freezing and annoyed.  I find a stool in the closet, and take the battery out of the fire alarm.  MEHHHH!  Damn it!   

Ok, plan B: I switch batteries with a fire alarm in the hallway, thinking that at least I can shut the bedroom door and not hear the beeping from the hallway.  (Admittedly, this was not the best plan ever, but again, it’s 5 o’clock in the morning.)  I can still hear the beeping.  Why is it so loud?!  So then I walk all the way downstairs, out to hubby’s “man cave” refrigerator in the cold garage where we keep the stupid batteries.  I grab a D battery and trudge back upstairs.  Five minutes later I’ve finally figured out how to install the battery... MEHHHH!  

WHY?! I put a new battery in you!  Plan C: I switch that battery with a battery in yet ANOTHER upstairs smoke detector.  (Note: There are 5 smoke detectors upstairs.  At this point, I am very upset with that fact.)  Now THAT smoke detector starts beeping.  Ok, I figured it out… the “man cave” battery was dead.  So I mope back downstairs, whining to myself and stomping my feet the whole way and look in the fridge for another D battery.  I can’t find one.  Holy crap, what am I going to do?!  Tears start forming and a total breakdown is about to happen.  Oh wait, there’s one!  Back upstairs, I install the new battery in the 3^rd smoke detector………………………..  Silence.  Thank heavens!

I finally go back to bed, cursing about smoke detectors and why they were designed so poorly.  Alternatively, we could just replace all the batteries annually like you’re supposed to, but that requires a lot of planning, and I just don’t want to do it.  

Here's some amazing pizza to make us all feel better!!!

Printable recipe HERE

Ingredients:

Pesto:
1/2 cup pepitas
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Pizza dough (You can follow my easy recipe for whole wheat pizza dough or buy some at the grocery store)

Toppings:
1 to 2 cups pizza sauce
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
1 jalapeño, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven.  If you're using a pizza stone, turn the oven on to 450 degrees F and heat the pizza stone for at least 30 minutes (turn the oven down to 375 when you're ready to cook the pizza).  If you're using a cookie sheet, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare the pesto:
Add the pepitas, garlic, and Parmesan cheese to the bowl of a food processor.  Process for a few seconds until the ingredients are coarsely combined.  Then add the fresh basil (so you don't over-process the beautiful basil leaves!), turn the processor on low speed, and slowly drizzle in the olive oil.  I process as little as possible to combine the ingredients because I prefer my pesto to be slightly chunky.

Place your pizza dough on the pizza stone or cookie sheet and cook about 10 minutes.  Top with pizza sauce, pesto, and any other toppings you choose, and cook for another 10 minutes.