Pesto Pizza

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Pesto pizza is one of my top two favorite pizzas of all time. My other favorite is bacon and feta cheese pizza (drool). We used to go to this place on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill when I was a kid to get the best bacon and feta cheese pizza… I think it was called Leo’s, but it closed a long time ago- the town of Chapel Hill has certainly suffered due to this loss.

But back to the pesto pizza…. this pizza is so simple and tastes unbelievably delicious. And you can add to it whatever you like (but don’t go overboard, make sure you can still taste every ingredient individually). This is basically a caprese salad…….. but on a pizza…. awesome.

                                                                                        Pesto Recipe

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons walnuts/pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Add all ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth. Dip your finger in, taste it, gasp, eat some more, and (try) to save the rest…

Assembling the Pizza

• 1 pizza dough (premade or your own)
• 8 ounces of provalone or mozzarella, grated
• 2 ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
• Pesto (recipe above)
• Feta
• Sundried tomatoes, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake the pizza dough according to directions with the cheese on top. Once almost done (the cheese will start bubbling and browning around the edges) take out, layer the tomatoes, pesto, feta and sundried tomatoes and put back in the oven for about 5 minutes, until all ingredients are hot.

Take out of oven, let sit 5 minutes. Cut into pieces. Eat and enjoy!

***NOTE*** there is no need for tomato sauce in this recipe… there is still plent of flavor and it is by no means “dry” without it.