Pizza Pesto
6 servings
40 minutes
Pesto pizza is a true Italian masterpiece born from Tuscan culinary traditions. Its main feature is the aromatic pesto sauce made from fresh basil, pine nuts, parmesan, and garlic. This delicate blend of greens and nuts gives the pizza a bright, rich flavor with subtle spicy notes. The crispy thin crust, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and capers complete the composition, creating a perfect balance of flavors. Pesto pizza is versatile: it suits both a cozy dinner and an elegant presentation on a festive table. Its freshness and exquisite aroma make it a favorite choice among Mediterranean cuisine enthusiasts.
1
Preparing pesto sauce: Lightly roast peeled pine nuts in a dry pan for a few minutes. Grate Parmesan cheese on a fine grater. Wash and dry the basil, plucking all the leaves. Peel garlic (2 cloves), place everything in a blender bowl, add olive oil and blend until smooth.
- Green basil leaves: 20 g
- Grated Parmesan cheese: 60 g
- Olive oil: 30 ml
- Pine nuts: 1.5 tablespoon
- Garlic: 4 cloves
2
We prepare tomato sauce for pizza (base): pour a little olive oil into a pan, heat it up, take garlic (2 cloves), crush it with the handle of a knife until fibrous, and fry it in the pan until golden, then discard the garlic from the pan - this is done so that the oil absorbs the flavor of the garlic.
- Olive oil: 30 ml
- Garlic: 4 cloves
3
Peel 3 tomatoes, place them in a blender, add dried basil to taste, or you can confidently replace it with fresh basil, and blend. Pour the tomato mixture into a pan with garlic olive oil, add a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, mix, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and keep for another 3-4 minutes. That's it, the delicious authentic Italian sauce is ready.
- Tomatoes: 5 piece
- Dried basil: to taste
- Sugar: 1 teaspoon
4
We roll out the pizza dough very thinly (some use a rolling pin, others use their hands; I always do it by hand) on parchment paper. We spread tomato sauce on the base evenly and can drizzle a little olive oil on top. Preheat the oven to maximum temperature (250-270 degrees), place the tray (form) with the base in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes. The crust is baked separately to make the dough crispy and well-cooked (because we are cooking at home; in real ovens, the temperature is much higher, so it cooks a bit differently).
- Olive oil: 30 ml
- Pizza dough: 1 piece
5
Slice 2 tomatoes into very thin rounds and place them on the baked base. Sprinkle dry oregano on top. Crumble the mozzarella by hand and evenly distribute it over the entire pizza. Use a spoon to spread pesto sauce over the surface of the pizza.
- Tomatoes: 5 piece
- Dried oregano: 0.5 teaspoon
- Mozzarella cheese: 100 g
- Green basil leaves: 20 g
6
Use capers to taste. Spread them out a little, evenly.
- Pickled capers: to taste
7
For decoration, we place the leftover tomato slices on top.
- Tomatoes: 5 piece
8
Sprinkle grated parmesan on top of the pizza.
- Grated Parmesan cheese: 60 g
9
Place the pizza in a preheated oven at maximum temperature, bake for 5-10 minutes until the edges are golden.