This pizza hits on all the Mediterranean diet foundations: polyphenol-rich fresh herbs, fiber-rich veggies, greens, lemon, olive oil….and sardines!

I’ve got two tricks for learning to love sardines:

1. Mash them up super fine so you’d never know they’re in there.
2. Baking sardines mellows out that fishy flavor, especially when you pair them with an acid like lemon or salty capers.

Eat food you love and food that loves you back!

Ingredients:

• 1 prepared pizza crust (I use Cappello’s almond flour thin crust, in the frozen section of our local health food store)

• 2–3 tbsp pesto

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley, basil)

• 1 cup mix of shredded mozzarella and parmesan

• 1 can sardines in olive oil, drained well and mashed with a fork

• 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, drained and halved

• 2-3 TBSP sun-dried tomatoes

• 3 cups arugula

• 1 lemon, for zest and a squeeze of juice

• 1 TBSP olive oil

• 1–2 tbsp capers, optional

• Crushed red pepper, optional

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 F.

2. Spread pesto over the pizza crust. Sprinkle with fresh herbs.

3. Add artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and mashed sardines. Top with cheese.

4. Bake about 10–12 minutes.

5. In a separate bowl, drizzle olive oil, salt and lemon juice over fresh arugula and mix well.

6. Top pizza with capers, lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice, and arugula. Season with crushed red pepper. Enjoy!