Basil Pesto and Tomato Pizza (and the goat cheese conundrum)

Nestled deep into the Mount Vernon concrete forest lies a beautiful cove of pizza heaven known as Iggie’s. For years, I only heard whispers of this place. It wasn’t until my friends dragged me over after a particularly dreadful midterms week that I understood the power this pizzeria held- my midterms drifting further away as my teeth sunk into each slice of pizza.

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In truth, I fell in love.

And with a wide-range of pizza options, many others are likely to do the same. If you’re in a particularly cheesy mood, you can get the Cinque Formaggi – a combination of roasted garlic, mozzarella, parmigiana, goat cheese, fontina asiago. Or, if you believe pizza without tomato sauce is a most vile form of blasphemy – there’s always the Salsiccia E Finocchio (sausage, pickled fennel, tomato ragu, mozzarella tallegio) to restore your faith.

My personal favorite, however, is “the Alice.” This pizza is a combination of basil pesto, mozzarella, fresh tomato, garlic spinach, goat cheese, and parmigiana – and it tastes incredible.

More recently, I had an insane Alice craving but didn’t have the funds or the time to venture to Mount Vernon for a quick bite. So what’s a girl with a pizza craving to do? Make her own!

In some sense, I also cheated because this is not the most authentic Alice there ever has been. However, it is truly not a hard recipe to mimick on your own. I used a tortilla as the bread, covered it in basil pesto, added mozzeralla cheese and fresh tomato, and finally sprinkled some black pepper on top. To make a completely authentic Alice, add garlic, spinach, and goat cheese as well as everything else I’ve listed! This one hit the spot, regardless of a few missing ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 Tortilla

2 tablespoons of Basil Pesto

1/2 cup of mozzeralla cheese

1/4 fresh tomato

black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place aluminum foil over cookware and spray with cooking spray.

2.  Cover tortilla with basil pesto.

3. Sprinkle mozzeralla cheese over the pesto.

4. Slice up the tomato and add on top of tortilla.

5. Sprinkle black pepper over everything.

6. Pop pizza into oven for about 15 minutes.

Maybe one day, I’ll actually make a goat cheese investment. Until that day, this guy hits the spot nicely whenever I need a small Iggie’s fix!