Italian Cream Cheese Veggie Pizza

My Italian Cream Cheese Veggie Pizza is a delicious cold appetizer that starts with a crescent roll crust and is then smeared with an Italian dressing cream cheese dip. Add an array of chopped colorful vegetables on top and you have one scrumptious easy appetizer perfect for feeding a crowd.

If you have to eat your veggies, this is the way to do it! My Italian Cream Cheese Veggie Pizza is a delicious cold appetizer that starts with a crescent roll crust and is then smeared with an Italian dressing cream cheese dip. Add an array of chopped colorful vegetables on top and you have one scrumptious easy appetizer perfect for feeding a crowd.

Do you know how some people just love their vegetables? I’m sure you’ve seen them before. They’re the people who can chomp on carrot sticks and devour cherry tomatoes by the pint with no problem at all. Oh, how I wish I was one of those people! Unfortunately for me, I’m not.

Nothing against veggies, but I prefer to use them as scoopers for hummus dip or covered with cheese and bacon like in this Make Ahead Twice Baked Potato Casserole. I’m pretty sure that’s still considered a vegetable…

For some odd reason, despite my mixed emotions with vegetables, I always find myself veering towards incorporating them into the menu when getting together with a group of women. It really is kind of weird the more I think about it. It’s almost like I feel better about myself as a woman when in a group setting just knowing there are vegetables and fruit to snack on. Am I alone in this?

This past weekend, I was invited to the ultimate female gathering: The Royal Wedding! The lovely host Sharon, asked that everyone bring a bottle of bubbly and an appetizer to share. My first thought for an appetizer was, of course, something with veggies. I didn’t want to bring just a vegetable platter with dip to a Royal Wedding! Cold Veggie Pizza, on the other hand, was a little more worthy of the event.

I automatically associate tea with England. My mom shared a recipe with me a long time ago for cucumber tea sandwiches that are to die for! The cream cheese layer within the sandwich is what makes them. I knew Sharon was already planning on making tea sandwiches for the party. I didn’t want to duplicate it, but I couldn’t get my mind past those decedent cucumber sandwiches.

That’s when it hit me! I can use the cream cheese layer that I love so much from the tea sandwiches and substitute it for the regular ranch layer that is found in almost all the cold vegetable pizzas I’ve seen. Sometimes I’m just so smart I actually impress myself!

Just that one little change in the cream cheese layer made a world of difference with the cold veggie pizza. I’ve always loved this appetizer prior to this, but the tiny shift from the original recipe really took this dish to a whole new level.

Thank goodness for that because my appetizer had to compete with all this other delicious food that was prepared.

My dish found a spot on the savory table.

There was also an entire table of sweets!

Check out these fabulous England-inspired raffle prizes. All the money went to charity which is pretty darn amazing and just goes to show the caliber of the hostess, Sharon.

Oh, and guess what?? Harry and Meghan decided to take a break from exchanging their vows to make an appearance at the party. Or it could just be my friend Tricia and me having way too much fun with the photo props.

We ate, drank and watched a recording of the Royal Wedding.

Hooray! Harry and Meghan sharing their first kiss.

It was a beautiful day and such an amazing idea for a party. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to be a part of it. I can’t thank Sharon enough for opening her home to me. 

So what do I need to make this Italian Cream Cheese Veggie Pizza?

2 tubes of Crescent rolls, 2 (0.7 oz.) packets of Italian salad dressing mix, 2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese, 1 cup of mayonnaise, an array of colorful veggies, chopped (I used 1 orange bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper, green onions, broccoli and cauliflower)

Pull out your cream cheese so it can soften and come to room temperature. This is an extremely important step. If your cream cheese isn’t softened, it will not incorporate properly with the other cream cheese mixture ingredients. You can do this before you go to bed the night before or early in the morning like I did.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Because I was taking this to a party, I used a disposable aluminum cookie sheet that I sprayed with cooking spray. Feel free to use a regular cookie sheet if you’re making it at home.

Open the two tubes of Crescent rolls and mold them into the bottom of the cookie sheet. I used my hands to start with and then went in with my Pampered Chef roller. I figured it was about time I used the darn thing! It’s one of the gadgets that made its debut on my 5 Pampered Chef Items Not Worth the Money list. It’s a pretty funny post if I do say so myself!

Bake the Crescent rolls in a 350-degree oven for about 10 – 12 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. When finished baking, pull it out of the oven and let it cool down.

While the Crescent roll base is cooling, you can start mixing up your cream cheese mixture. It’s so simple. Add your 2 packages of cream cheese, 2 packets of Italian dressing mix, and 1 cup of mayonnaise to your mixer.

Give it a whirl until all the ingredients combine.

Next, you can chop your vegetables. Feel free to add any vegetables you like. The goal is to have an array of colors so it looks visually appealing. I went with 2 bell peppers (1 red and 1 orange), green onions, broccoli and cauliflower.

Once the Crescent roll layer is cooled, spread your cream cheese mixture all over the top.

Sprinkle the chopped vegetables evenly over the top of the cream cheese mixture, and with clean hands, gently push down on the vegetables to help them stick to the pizza.

Cover the Italian Cream Cheese Veggie Pizza and place it in the refrigerator for at least one hour for the flavors to come together.

Slice the pizza, place it on the table, and watch it disappear.

Enjoy!

From someone who isn’t the biggest fan of vegetables, take my word that this Italian Cream Cheese Veggie Pizza is a winner! Give it a try and let me know what you think. Who knew cold vegetable pizza would make such a wonderful easy appetizer. Cheers!

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