A Cookable Feast

Subbing pesto sauce for tomato sauce on a pizza is a definite must-try! There are few things better in life, in my opinion, than homemade pesto. It makes for such a rich and flavorful pizza sauce that complex toppings are not necessary. The lovely little grape tomato more than suffices. 

This homemade dough recipe is great, too, because it doesn’t involve yeast or ten minutes of hand-numbing, repetitive kneading. More quickly made dough = a shorter route for this delectable pizza from pan to oven to your mouth!

Pesto sauce:

-2 tightly-packed cups flat-leaf parsley

-1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

-1/2 cup pine nuts

-1/2 cup olive oil

-1 tbs. minced garlic

-1 tbs. lemon juice

-1 tsp. kosher salt

-1 tsp. black pepper

-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Pizza crust:

-1 1/4 cups white flour

-1 cup whole wheat flour

-1 cup milk

-3 tbs. grapeseed oil

-1 tbs. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/4 tsp. oregano

-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Toppings:

-1 cup shredded mozzarella

-10 grape tomatoes, sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 350.

Blend all ingredients for the pesto sauce in a food processor or blender until they are smooth.

Mix together all crust ingredients in a large mixing bowl until they get hard to mix with a spoon, then move to a lightly floured surface and knead a bit there until a well-mixed dough ball of uniform consistency has formed.

Gently press dough to fit the shape of the greased baking dish of your choice (I used a rectangular 13 x 9-inch metal baking dish). Bake the crust on its own for five minutes, then remove it from the oven and layer it with the pesto sauce, mozzarella, and grape tomatoes. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the pizza is your desired level of doneness.