Description
This festive Christmas Tree Pizza recipe features a cheese-stuffed dough decorated with colorful toppings, making it a fun and delicious appetizer for holiday gatherings. The dough is shaped into a tree, filled with melted mozzarella sticks, and adorned with bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and pepperoni slices to resemble garlands and ornaments, perfect for sharing with family and friends during the holiday season.
Ingredients
Scale
Pizza Dough
- 1 pound pizza dough (or two 11-ounce cans refrigerated bread dough)
Cheese Filling
- 5 mozzarella cheese sticks
Sauces
- ¼ cup Alfredo sauce (store-bought)
- 1 tablespoon jarred pesto sauce
Toppings
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ small green bell pepper, sliced to resemble garland
- ¼ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 2 tablespoons mini pepperoni slices
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Other
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Italian herbs
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and position the rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat to prevent sticking.
- Prepare Dough: Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface into a large triangle shape resembling a Christmas tree. This shape will serve as the base for your tree.
- Add Sauces and Cheese Sticks: Spread the Alfredo sauce evenly over the dough triangle. Lay the mozzarella cheese sticks horizontally across the dough, leaving some space between each to replicate tree branches. Then, fold the dough over the cheese sticks from both sides and press to seal, ensuring the cheese is enclosed inside the dough.
- Shape and Season: Carefully shape the folded dough into a Christmas tree form, trimming edges if necessary. Brush the entire surface with olive oil and sprinkle the Italian herbs evenly for added flavor.
- Add Toppings: Spoon the pesto sauce over the tree like decorative garland. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over the top. Then decorate with sliced green bell pepper to mimic garland, halved cherry tomatoes for ornaments, and mini pepperoni slices to add festive color and flavor.
- Bake: Place the prepared pizza tree on the lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese inside is melted and bubbly.
- Finish and Serve: Remove from oven, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese for extra savory flavor, let cool slightly, and then slice and serve your Christmas Tree Pizza warm as a fun holiday appetizer.
Notes
- This Christmas Tree Pizza is perfect for holiday parties as a festive and shareable appetizer.
- The cheese sticks inside the dough create a gooey, melty surprise in every bite.
- You can customize toppings to your preference—try olives, different peppers, or other favorite pizza toppings.
- Using refrigerated bread dough makes this recipe quick and convenient.
- Let the pizza cool for a few minutes before slicing to prevent cheese from spilling out.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/6 of pizza)
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: thirty five g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 18 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg
