Pesto Pizza

Basil Pesto Pizza

I’ve been making homemade pizza forever. We grew up making it as kids, and it was our Saturday night meal to go with “Donnie and Marie”. Yeah, I’m old.

Why We Love This Pesto Pizza:

• SIMPLE – This pizza uses simple ingredients easily found in your local grocery store. Making your own homemade pizza dough is pretty quick and it’s totally worth the extra steps.
• FAVORITE SAUCE – Pesto sauce is one of our favorite sauces and is fantastic on pizza. 
• A DELICIOUS COMBO – We love the combo of quick pizza dough, homemade pesto, Roma tomatoes, and shredded mozzarella cheese. Friday nights just got tastier!
• Optional Ingredients: Try using cherry tomatoes, fresh spinach, red onion, fresh arugula, and/or leftover chicken.

Pizza Ingredients:

• Quick Pizza Dough – This pizza dough rises pretty quickly. I often stick the dough in the refrigerator (covered with plastic wrap) until I’m ready to form the crusts. While we love our homemade pizza dough recipe, store-bought dough works in a pinch.
• Bold Pesto Flavor – We have a large pot of fresh basil in the summertime, and I make a double batch of homemade basil pesto sauce about every other week. Let’s just say…we have loads of thick pesto sauce in the freezer right now.
• Roma Tomatoes – Use thin slices of fresh tomatoes on this heavenly pizza.
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – I normally use shredded Tillamook cheese or shred my own. We’ve also used fresh mozzarella too.

How to Make Pesto Mozzarella Pizza:

Step 1
Make homemade pizza dough.

• Activate the yeast. Using a large standing mixer, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Take a spatula, and stir it around a couple of times. Then let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the yeast activates. You should see a bubbly mixture when it’s ready. Then add the extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt, and stir again.
• Add flour to desired consistency. Start by adding about three cups of bread flour to the mixer. Let the mixer run, and occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Gradually add more flour until you get a nice dough consistency. It should be slightly sticky, but easy to handle.
• Let the dough rise. Grease a large bowl with canola or olive oil. Remove the dough from the mixer, and form it into a ball. Then place it in the bowl, and cover it with a clean dishtowel. Place the bowl in a warm place in your kitchen and let rise until approximately doubled in size. The rise may be different each time and will vary depending on where you live.
• Use dough for pizza crusts. Once the bread rises, it’s time to form the dough into desired shapes. This recipe should make about three medium-sized pizzas.

Step 2
Make homemade basil pesto sauce.

• Clean the basil. If you are picking fresh basil, make sure you rinse it under cold water and then pat dry with a clean towel (or paper towel).
• Toast the nuts. Toast the pine nuts on the stove top, until fragrant and slightly brown. Remove to cool slightly.
• Shred parmesan cheese. Use a box grater to freshly shred some parmesan cheese.
• Combine. Combine the fresh basil leaves, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and garlic cloves in a food processor.
• Process. Pulse for several seconds until the ingredients are ground up. Then remove the plunger on top, and drizzle the olive oil through the feed tube until the sauce is nice and creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Store. Store pesto sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days.

Step 3
Assemble pizza.

• Spray the skillet with baking spray. If grilling, add some cornmeal to a sheet of parchment paper.
• Press the dough out. Use your hands to press the pizza dough out to all sides of the cast iron skillet (or pizza stone).
• Spoon the pesto sauce over the pizza dough, smoothing to all sides of the dough.
• Add tomato slices and shredded mozzarella cheese.

What to Serve with Pesto Pizza:

• We love to start with a cold cocktail – like Hawaiian Mai Tais, Cherry Margaritas, or Lemon Mojitos. Want to skip the alcohol? Try our Raspberry Mocktails or Strawberry Mojito Mocktails.
• Salads pair well with pizza. Try our Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad, Grinder Salad, or Arugula Caprese Salad.

More Pizza Recipes:

• White Sauce Pizza Recipe
• BBQ Chicken Bacon Pizza
• Eggcellent Breakfast Pizza
• Meatball Pizza Recipe
• Gyro Pizza

Recipe FAQs:

Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)

• Cast Iron Skillet
• Food Processor