Simple Christmas Pizza Recipe

Pizza is one of the most universally loved foods out there, and now it's getting the holiday treatment. Thanks to recipe developer Jennine Rye's Christmas pizza recipe, you can enjoy pizza with a festive touch. Not only is this adorable pizza shaped like a holiday wreath, but it's also decorated with Christmas-colored toppings, making it as joyful to look at as it is to eat. "I love how easy it is to throw together, and yet it looks so fun and festive," Rye says about this recipe. "I think it would make a really great activity to do with kids — decorating their own Christmas pizza wreaths!"

Rye also notes that this pizza "is a great idea to bring along to a Christmas gathering or Christmas party." "It's fun, festive, and it only takes half an hour or so to make," she raves. "[It's] definitely a winner!" And we agree — this recipe incorporates everything we love about pizza, like the soft dough, cheese, and flavorful toppings, and puts a perfect holiday twist on it. Best of all, this recipe comes together in just over 20 minutes, so it's perfect for a quick but fulfilling dinner during this merry time of year.

Before you can bake this Christmas pizza, you'll want to make sure that you have the right ingredients. For starters, you'll need a premade, ready-to-bake pizza dough. You'll also need green pesto, shredded mozzarella cheese, halved cherry tomatoes, chorizo slices, a red and green pepper, sliced black olives, and fresh basil for garnish.

Although Rye specifically choose these ingredients thanks to their festive colors, she notes that there is some room for topping substitutions based on personal preference. "There's definitely room for topping substitutions, you could really choose whatever you enjoy most as a pizza topping," she explains. "Foods that are red or green give it the most festive feel, but it's a fun idea to play around with different shapes and colors."

First things first: Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 F. Roll the pizza dough out onto a baking sheet, and then work on getting it into a circular shape. First, find an object that is roughly 11 inches in diameter, like a large bowl, and place it face-down onto the dough. Cut around the rim of the bowl, thus creating the circular pizza shape. 

Now, to turn the circle into a wreath, you'll need to find an object that is 4 ½ inches in diameter, like a cereal bowl, and place it in the middle of the dough. Cut around the smaller bowl, creating a hole in the middle of the pizza, which gives it a festive wreath shape. Remove any excess dough, and set it aside. Rye notes that this is one of the more difficult steps: "There are a few slightly more difficult bits, such as cutting out the centre of the pizza dough and also cutting the red pepper bow, but it really isn't that hard to do — very similar to making an ordinary pizza."

Once you have the pizza dough cut out, you can begin adding the toppings. First, spread the pesto sauce evenly across the pizza dough using the back of a spoon. Next, sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella cheese. Grab your chorizo slices, and space them out evenly across the pizza, being sure to leave some room in between. Place the halved cherry tomatoes in the space between the chorizo slices, but leave one space blank — you'll see why in the next step. Finally, decorate the edges of the pizza with cubed green pepper and black olives.

Your pizza is almost ready to bake! As a final festive touch, grab your red pepper, and slice off the bottom, using the rounded part as the top half of the "bow" for the wreath. Then, use two straight slices of pepper as the bottom half of the bow, and then cut a triangle piece to put in the middle. Assemble the bow in the spot that you left blank. Now, pop the pizza into the preheated oven, and bake it for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cheese is melty and the crust turns golden.

Once your pizza is out of the oven, optionally top it off with fresh basil, and then you're ready to enjoy! Not only does this pizza resemble a Christmas wreath, but it's packed with flavor thanks to the chorizo, pesto, cheese, and all of the veggies. If you happen to have any leftovers, Rye says that you can easily store them in the fridge for up to four days. "If you place leftover pieces on foil and then turn the oven on to a low temperature for five to 10 minutes, it should heat through, the cheese should melt nicely, and it should get that delicious crispy texture back to the pizza base," she suggests as reheating instructions. Of course, considering how delicious this pizza is, it's safe to assume that there might not be any leftovers at all!