Pizza fans raise your hand!! My husband and I LOVE pizza and enjoy making it at home fairly regularly. With our new Breville Toaster Oven we can make personal pizzas with ease! I really recommend one if you’re looking for an upgrade 🙂
You can totally make the dough for this recipe and if so I have one listed below that we love to use. However, for this recipe if you want to cut corners a bit, pick up a store bought dough either from your local grocery store or pizza shop. With living outside of NYC, we have the luxury of being close to Eataly! If you ever visit NYC, I HIGHLY recommend if you love Italian food. It is amazing! I will pick up some of their homemade dough there to take home for that night or to freeze for when we’re craving pizza. So easy and delicious!
I kept this pizza very simple with my homemade pesto sauce and added some fresh slices of tomatoes on top. It couldn’t be easier! But pizzas are a great way to show your creativity. We love to invite friends or family over and have a bunch of different toppings ready and everyone makes their own. Some of my favorite toppings are sautéed onion and mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and of course eggplant- Which I’ll share my favorite breaded eggplant recipe with you soon, I promise! You can add vegan cheese on top, but to be honest I’ve never been a fan of vegan cheese. I prefer to just leave it off.
Start by forming your dough if your using store bought, or make your dough if you are making your own. If you make your own dough, you will need almost 2 hours until you can make the pizza’s so make sure you plan ahead! Form the dough into whatever size sheet pan you will be using. Mine is a circle, so I made the best circle I could. You’ll need some extra flour to sprinkle on to keep the rolling pin from sticking.
TIP: If you don’t have a rolling pin, you can use a wine bottle. It will take a little longer but it works!
Add on your pesto sauce- find the recipe here. Spread it evenly all over the pizza. Then add your toppings. Again, I love to keep this simple with some sliced fresh tomatoes, but add what your heart desires!
Cook it in a 425 degree preheated oven until golden brown crust and toppings are cooked heated through. Take out and place on a cutting board and cut it and serve while hot!
Delicious Pesto Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 lb store bought pizza dough
- my 5 ingredient pesto recipe below
- 1 small tomato thinly sliced
Pesto Sauce
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup raw cashews soaked
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil extra virgin
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Roll out the store bought dough (or homemade if using- recipe below) into your desired shape and lay on pan.
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Spread the pesto sauce generously on the dough then top it with a few slices of fresh tomato.
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Place it in a 425 degree oven and cook until the crust is golden brown and tomatoes are wilted. It will take about 15 minutes.
Pesto Sauce
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Blend all ingredients in food processor for 1-2 minutes or until a smooth pesto sauce is formed. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Homemade Pizza Dough
Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups bread flour
- 1 package dry active yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups luke warm water 110 degrees
- 2 Tbsp olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
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Add the flour, yeast, sugar and salt into a stand mixer with dough attachment and mix until combine.
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While still mixing, slowly add in the water and olive oil until a ball of dough forms.
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If the dough still seems sticky, add a bit more flour. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until a smooth ball is formed.
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Place dough in a large oiled bowl and cover it lightly with a kitchen towel. Let it rest for 1 hour or until doubled in size. It is now ready to use!
Enjoy!
Xo, Melissa
