Fennel, Prosciutto and Radicchio Pizza

I'm a total sucker for pizza. I love the way the crust crunches and the cheese oozes. I love the nostalgia of the childhood pizza night treat. Unfortunately, it can be one of the least healthy food options out there. Fortunately, with the right ingredients, it can be totally healthy and delicious.

I've certainly read a heck of a lot of articles telling me that pizza can be healthy as long as it is piled high with vegetables, has a super thin crust and is almost meatless. My goal is to create a pizza (or a wide variety of pizzas) that meet those criteria and taste absolutely delicious. Last night's dinner made the list! It has just enough cheese and meat to really taste like pizza.  It is piled high with vegetables that just sing when they're caramelized under the broiler. If you have a pizza stone, this would be a great time to use it!

• 16 oz refrigerated pizza dough (I recommend Trader Joe's garlic herb dough)
• olive oil cooking spray
• 4 tbsp pesto
• 12 oz reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/8 lb prosciutto, thinly sliced and torn into bite size pieces
• 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
• 2 medium radicchio, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. Bring pizza dough to room temperature to allow for easier stretching (about 20 minutes). Divide pizza dough into 2/3 and 1/3 segments (or in 1/2 if you're using a pizza stone and want to make 2 pizzas on the stone). Spray large cookie sheet and 9 x 12 baking pan with cooking spray. Lightly spray your fingers with cooking spray. Stretch the larger dough segment over the large cookie sheet and the smaller dough segment over the smaller pan until dough reaches the edges. (Be patient with this part. You're trying to get the dough very thin, so it may occasionally tear. Just patch it back up and keep at it!)

Spread 2 1/2 tbsp of pesto on the larger pizza and 1 1/2 tbsp of pesto on the smaller pizza. Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over both pizzas. Layer the pieces of prosciutto over the cheese. Spread the sliced fennel over the prosciutto evenly. Bake pizzas for about 10 minutes until fennel begins to turn translucent.

Meanwhile, toss radicchio with olive oil, salt and pepper. Take pizzas out of the oven and spread radicchio over the fennel. Bake pizzas for an additional 5 minutes. Turn oven to high broil. Broil each pizza for 1 to 2 minutes until cheese is golden and fennel and radicchio are caramelized. Serve and enjoy!