Foodie Fridays: Easy Autumn Pizza

As I mentioned last week, I have not had much time for cooking lately so I have been taking short cuts, but I still want to eat delicious and relatively healthy foods.  We recently received a Trader Joe's "Fearless Flyer" touting all of their autumn-themed edibles.  Since I love everything about autumn, including the foods, I stopped by when I happened to be in the area (I rarely get to Trader Joe's because we live a little too far away).  I picked up a lot of intriguing items, one of which was their refrigerated fresh whole wheat pizza dough, which I have been wanting to try but had not yet had the chance.

This week we finally got some rain so I have been spending more time indoors, but of course life can never be that easy so the one day I thought I would have more time to cook I ended up having to take our dog Ruby to the vet because she suddenly became lame.  I decided that day would be perfect for using the pizza dough to make an easy main dish, incorporating many of the Trader Joe's items I bought earlier.  In addition to the dough, I had some frozen autumnal vegetables, a pasta sauce with pumpkin as an ingredient, and burrata cheese.  With a couple of leftovers in the fridge added, I was able to throw together a pizza full of fall flavors.

The result was so good it was all I could do not to devour the whole thing by myself!  When I do finally get a chance to spend more time cooking I will make my own pizza dough, roast up some fresh vegetables, and possibly even make my own pasta sauce, but seriously I am not sure I could improve upon my Trader Joe's-inspired version.  I have never had an autumnal pizza before, but I am certainly going to be making some version of this one again!

Easy Autumn Pizza

1 bag (16 oz.) Trader Joe's frozen Julienned Root Vegetables
1 bag (16 oz.) refrigerated whole wheat pizza crust dough
1 C. Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Pasta Sauce
2 C. baby kale
1 T. olive oil
1/4 C. shredded cheese
1 container (8 oz.) burrata cheese

Roast the frozen root vegetables according to package directions.  Remove from the oven and set aside.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

While the vegetables are roasting, place the pizza dough on a well-floured surface and roll out to about 12 inches in diameter.  Place the dough on a pizza pan and top with the sauce.  Spread the baby kale leaves evenly over the sauce and sprinkle very lightly with olive oil.  Sprinkle with the shredded cheese.  Top with the root vegetables.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Turn off the oven and remove the pizza.  Pull apart the burrata cheese and spread it evenly over the top of the pizza.  Return the pizza to the hot but turned-off oven for five minutes to melt the burrata cheese.  Remove from the oven and serve immediately.  Serves 6.

Note: If you do not have burrata cheese you can use fresh mozzarella, but do give the burrata a try if you have never had it.  This cheese is a ball of fresh mozzarella wrapped around a creamy center that is a bit like ricotta in texture but much creamier.  Melted over pizza, it is just divine!