Pesto Pizza

Pizza is one of my favorite things to make. It is a great way to get rid of certain leftovers in the fridge/freezer. And it is pretty quick after the dough has risen. I think some people avoid making pizza from scratch because of the dough buuut there’s so much you can do while you wait for the dough to rise! Like… read, do the dishes, workout (what I did), watch Netflix, call someone, you get the image. The point is, if you are intimidated by making pizza, don’t be. It’s super easy and very flexible. I hope I am convincing those of you who haven’t made pizza before to give this Pesto Pizza a try.

I made my crust really thin but it’s up to you how thick you want your pizza to be. I was very generous with the pesto and cheese (I wish I was more generous with the ricotta too), and I would normally use just mozzarella and parmesan but I added another cheese as well. You will see that not all the ingredients have exact measurements. That is because you can put toppings to your hearts content or as long as there is space. Like I said, pizza is very flexible so this is not a “follow to a T” kind of recipe.

My final product yielded a very flavorful and savory thin crispy crusted pizza with creamy and fruity bites from the ricotta and tomatoes. Here’s the recipe.

Pesto Pizza

This recipe yields one medium to large pizza depending on crust thickness.

The Crust:

• 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (1 envelope)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 2/3 cup very warm water
• 3 tablespoons oil plus 2 teaspoons

The Toppings:

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pesto
• about 2 cups cheese ( I used half mozzarella and half of a swiss and gruyere blend)
• about 2 tomatoes sliced in rounds
• ricotta cheese
• grated parmesan cheese

Method

Combine 1 cup of flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the warm water and 3 tablespoons of oil and mix all together for about one minute. Keep on adding flour and mixing until the dough forms a ball. Knead the dough for about 4 minutes, if it gets too sticky you can add a little more flour. Form the dough into a ball. Grease a bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil then place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm area. Let it rise for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.

Preheat your oven to 450ºF. When the dough has risen, place it in the middle of a pizza pan. Press and stretch it out until it has reached the corners of the pan or until it is the desired thickness. Spread pesto on the crust leaving some room around the edges of the dough then scatter the cheese on the pesto. Top with tomatoes and dollops of ricotta cheese then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake pizza for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the crust turns a golden brown. Let the pizza cool for about 8 minutes then slice and serve.