pesto pizza

You will have seen that we have the blog dressed in summer, with simple, effective, colorful and very, very tasty recipes . I am determined to bring you dishes that allow you to enjoy the good weather in the company of your loved ones, and that make you lick your lips at how good they are. Recipes with an unbeatable relationship between preparation time and enjoyment time, because I don't want you to miss a dip in the pool. Neither you, nor I!

The queen of this type of recipe, with the exception of salad, is undoubtedly pizza. Among its greatest advantages are that it is liked by everyone (I still don't know anyone who has said "no" to pizza for dinner) and that it accepts practically any type of ingredient . Whether it's cheese, vegetables, fish or meat, not a single crumb will be left.

Today's pizza will be no exception. Pesto pizza is tasty, aromatic and, of course, very summery, although after trying it once you'll want to enjoy it all year round. The dough, baked in the Emile Henry ceramic pizza pan , will be very crispy, and we'll accompany it with some cherry tomatoes and a good amount of mozzarella . The pesto gives it the perfect touch, flooding the entire pizza with its flavour and aroma.

And so that you can play with different flavors, the pesto pizza that I bring you in this post comes with a gift: the recipe for a very fresh green sauce that is an ideal alternative to dress this pizza when you want to change the pesto for another flavor.

Let's go with the recipe!

Emile Henry Smooth Ceramic Pizza Tray

Ingredients

For the pizza dough*

• 200 g of wheat flour
• 5 g of salt
• 5 g of extra-fine sugar
• 5 g dry baker's yeast
• 10 cl of warm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil

*If you buy the dough, you can skip the first step of the recipe, but it is so easy to prepare (almost by itself) that it is worth making it at home.

Choose the sauce you prefer on your pizza:

1) Pesto sauce*

• 50 g basil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 30 g grated Parmesan cheese
• 30 g of pine nuts
• 175 ml of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

*Just like with pizza dough, you can buy pesto, but making it is so easy that it won't take you long at all. Plus, you can always adjust it to your taste.

2) Green sauce

• 20 g parsley (leaves only, about 1 handful)
• 10 g basil (leaves only)
• A few leaves of fresh oregano
• 2-3 fresh mint leaves (optional)
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 clove of garlic
• 10 cl of olive oil
• 1 pinch of sugar
• Fine salt and ground pepper to taste

For the filling, in addition to the sauce:

• 150 g cherry tomatoes
• 150 g of mozzarella

Elaboration

For the pizza dough

1. This is what we will have to prepare first. To do this, mix the flour with the salt, sugar and yeast.
2. Pour in the warm water (about 40°C) and olive oil. Mix until combined, knead well until you obtain a soft dough and form a ball.
3. Flour the ceramic pizza pan , spread the dough directly on it with a rolling pin or with your hand, using your fingers, and let it rise for about 15 minutes.

For the sauce

1) If you choose pesto sauce:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and toast the pine nuts on a tray for 10 minutes until golden brown, then leave to cool. You can also do this in a frying pan, stirring constantly, but if you do it in the oven it will be ready when you bake the pizza.
2. Peel the garlic and put it in the Tefal Ingenio manual chopper and blend for about 5 seconds.
3. Add the basil and garlic to the chopper and blend for 3 more seconds.
4. Place the rest of the ingredients in the chopper and mix them for about 10 seconds.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to add to the pizza.

2) If you choose the green sauce:

1. Chop the parsley, basil, fresh oregano and mint leaves.
2. Add the garlic, capers and lemon juice and mix everything well, gradually incorporating the olive oil so that it emulsifies properly.
3. Add salt and pepper at the end.

Assembly and cooking

1. If you have toasted the pine nuts in the oven to make the pesto sauce, do not turn it off; turn up the temperature to 240°C so that it is nice and hot when you bake the pizza. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 240°C.
2. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place them face down on the dough, with the rounded side facing up.
3. Add the sliced ​​mozzarella so that it covers the entire dough.
4. Using a spoon, spread the pesto sauce over the pizza (you can use a bottle or a piping bag). If you have opted for the green sauce, do exactly the same.
5. Place the Emile Henry Smooth Ceramic Pizza Tray in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven, cut on the same tray with the pizza cutter and wait for it to cool slightly before enjoying it. Enjoy!

Grades:

• To make the dough crispier, you can sprinkle fine durum wheat semolina on the ceramic tray before baking.
• If you want to give it a more aromatic touch, sprinkle with very finely chopped rosemary just after taking the pizza out of the oven.
• Whatever sauce you choose for your pizza, spread it generously. If you have any leftovers, you can store them in the fridge in an airtight container or you can spread them out in an ice cube tray and freeze them, so you'll have them ready to eat little by little when you need them.