pesto pizza
Every December, I start to miss Italy. Two years ago, my dear friend, Teresa, and I spent a semester studying in Europe and our last hurrah trip was to visit her family in Vezzolacca. While we did spend a day in Florence *sigh*, the rest of our trip was spent locally, far from touristy Roma. We found ourselves in living rooms and dining rooms. We were gathered around stone fireplaces, drank coffee and biscuits with great-great aunts, pursued through pictures and artifacts from WW2, ate gelato in local cafes, and poked around Vezzolacca's castle. It was incredible. Her family fed us, taught us Italian, polished our boots and warmed our socks before we went out, and even tried to do my hair. (I must have been looking rough cause they offered to do it every morning...) And, to whom it may concern, Teresa Hewitt is something of a celeb in Northern Italy. No trip I've taken since has been quite like it.
Teresa and I near her family's home. This mountain overlooked the town. Breathtaking. This picture really doesn't do it justice, but check out that italian hair do. Oh baby.
My favorite restaurant was a pizza place her cousins took us the last night we were there. It almost a diner feel, but think Italian diner. It had red checkered table clothes and twinkle lights. Everyone knew each other and we must have meet 6 or 7 families while we waited for our food to come out. I tried white wine for the first time and then came the pizza. Delicious, thin, crispy, cheesy pizza. I fell in love with white pizza that day and have been desperately trying to recreate it ever since.
Pesto Pizza
Ingredients:
2 personal pizza crusts (I used Udi's GF)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons basil pesto
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 shredded Romano cheese
1/2 shredded Asiago cheese
2 cups fresh spinach
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 7 - 12 minutes
Yields: 2 personal pizzas
Preheat oven to 375°F. Drizzle olive oil on both crusts. Then spoon pesto into the center and smear out to the edges. Cover the entire crust.
Mix cheeses together in a large bowl and then sprinkle half of the mixture on the pizza. Top with spinach, tomato slices, and mushrooms.
Cover the pizzas in the remaining cheese. Bake for 7 minutes if your crust was thawed and 12 minutes if it was frozen, or until cheese is melted and browning on the edges.
Savor every bite of this crispy, delicious pizza. But, watch the garlic breath... it's the only real downside to this recipe.
Italy, gluten free, main courses, weeknight wonders
Reader Comments (6)
Homemade pizza is one of my favorites! Next time I'm definitely trying it with pesto!
♥ Gina Michele
CrochetClouds.com
Looks good! I'm making pizza tonight so I might try it with the pesto. Thanks for the post!!
Yummy! Love everything about this pizza.
Oh sweet mercy! ;) Can't wait to try it! PS This post makes me smile :)
that pizza looks delicious and so fresh!
http://191orchard.blogspot.com
Mmm, pizza never fails to make me hungrier instead of fuller. Your crust looks awesome!