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This Easy Flatbread Pizza is topped with artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and my secret ingredient: cream cheese! Or choose your own toppings, but keep the flatbread crust for the easiest pizza party ever.
The genius of “pizza a la mode,” pizza with cream cheese, belongs to a Milwaukee pizza chain called Pizza Man. This legendary restaurant was known for it’s unique pizza crust, insane wine cellar (with nearly $250,000 in wine), and the coziest interior built from reclaimed bar wood. While it suffered from fire damage in 2010, it was ultimately rebuilt and a few other locations opened as well.
I still go back to Pizza Man when I visit Milwaukee. But most of the time, I channel their genius and make my own Artichoke a la Mode-style pizza at home.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Flatbread: Look for Naan bread which is a type of flatbread often located in the bakery section of the grocery store. It is soft and chewy and a really delicious pizza crust. Stonefire is a common brand.
- Pizza sauce: My homemade Marinara Dipping Sauce makes a great quick pizza sauce. Whip up a batch with just olive oil, garlic, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and salt.
Step-by-step instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the upper middle position and preheat broiler on LOW. Arrange flatbreads in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Top each flatbread with 2 tablespoons sauce and ½ cup cheese.
- Divide the tomato slices evenly among the flatbreads and top each with several artichoke hearts. Drop several teaspoon-sized dollops of cream cheese on each pizza.
- Broil in the oven until the artichokes and tomatoes are heated through and the cheese has melted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh basil.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 flatbread pizzas, enough for 4 individual servings (1 pizza per person). Or, cut each pizza into pieces and serve as an appetizer at a party (plan on ½ pizza per person).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Extra flatbread: If you have leftover naan, put it to work with a Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap or the Ultimate Veggie Wrap. Or, make a Mezze sandwich with Hummus, Roasted Red Peppers, cucumbers, and and feta cheese.
- Mix up your toppings: While I love this artichoke and cream cheese pizza, there are so many different ways you can go. Try leftover rotisserie chicken with barbecue sauce, smoked Gouda cheese, thinly sliced red onion, and fresh cilantro. Or if you have some leftover Chipotle Chicken, shred that and add it with Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced poblano peppers, roasted corn, and crema or sour cream. Or, try a club-style pizza with cooked bacon, grilled chicken, and mozzerella. Finish it with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and Ranch dressing.
Recipe FAQs
For an easy, delicious homemade pizza sauce, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 3 whole garlic cloves, peeled and smashed, and sauté until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove garlic and discard. Stir in ½ teaspoon dried basil and ½ teaspoon dried oregano until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium, stir in 15 ounces tomato sauce and salt to taste (I like ¼ teaspoon), and simmer until flavors have blended, about 10 minutes.
The easiest, most widely available substitute for naan bread in a standard American grocery store is pita bread.
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Easy Flatbread Pizza
Ingredients
- 4 flatbreads (see note 1)
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce (see note 2)
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 3 Roma tomatoes thinly sliced
- 1 can artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- fresh basil leaves whole or thinly sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the upper middle position and preheat broiler on LOW. Arrange flatbreads in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets.
- Top each flatbread with 2 tablespoons sauce and ½ cup cheese. Divide the tomato slices evenly among the flatbreads and top each with several artichoke hearts.
- Drop several teaspoon-sized dollops of cream cheese on each pizza. Broil in the oven until the artichokes and tomatoes are heated through and the cheese has melted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh basil.
Notes
- Flatbread: Look for Naan bread which is a type of flatbread often located in the bakery section of the grocery store. It is soft and chewy and a really delicious pizza crust. Stonefire is a common brand.
- Pizza sauce: My homemade Marinara Dipping Sauce makes a great quick pizza sauce. Whip up a batch with just olive oil, garlic, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and salt.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I really liked your site. Thanks for the recipe!
Hahahaha- I wonder how many customers of theirs were surprised that their pizza didn’t come topped with Ben and Jerry’s 😉
RIGHT! LOL. Well thanks for having a good sense of humor about it, anyway. 🙂
Ala mode means “with ice cream” in French. Perhaps you meant Au Gratin which is “with cheese”?
I took the recipe name from a local pizza chain who called it Al a Mode. I think it’s more of a joke than a literal translation of the words. I guess I don’t know what their rational behind it was… probably a play on words of the word “cream”?
I definitely DO wonder how I’ve gone this long without putting cream cheese on my pizza after reading this!
Brilliant idea to use Naan bread for a pizza – they’re just the right shape and thickness.
NOW you’ve got me craving pizza big time!!!
Ahhhh Helen, you’re the best! Naan breads are SO easy, even easier than buying store-bought crust, and so chewy and delicious. 🙂 Yes, add cream cheese to everything! Always a good idea!
So I too have added cream cheese to pizzas and it is LOVELY! Salty creamy goodness…ahhh just fabulous! And I love that you used naan bread! You are fabulous! Have fun in wino world 🙂
Thank you girly! Cream cheese is my everything. #cheesehead 😉
I’ve only ever had cream cheese on dessert pizzas so I’ll have to try it like this. Looks delicious!
That sounds so obvious – cream cheese on a dessert pizza! I’m making that next. Thanks for the brilliant idea! 🙂