A symple pizza, easily overdone.
With nothing but pesto as a topping, you have to be careful with making pesto pizza. Its intensity can lead to a pizza dominated by its salty-savouriness. In addition, the fat from all the oil and hard cheese can lead to a pizza base more fried than baked, hard and brittle.
To solve these problems, I decided to add some San Marzano tomatoes to the pizza before baking. As the pizza bakes, the tomatoes release just enough moisture to keep the crust underneath soft. They also have a uniquely tart sweetness that perfectly balances and complements the pesto.
Lastly, to enhance the flavour of the tomatoes, you can finish it with a splash of balsamic vinegar. If you just so happen to have passed through the super Aberystwyth deli Ultracomida recently, a drop or two of their Moscatel balsamic finegar will do the job perfectly. On the other hand, if we’re on a budget, you can also reduce some regular balsamic vinegar down to a glaze and finish with that.
Whichever finishing touches you choose, here is the recipe for the delicate delicacy that is pesto pizza.
Recipe
Prepare a bowl o pesto (recipe here)
Open your pizza base and spread pesto over it, as you would a regular tomato sauce base.
- 1 portion of green pesto
Spread tomato halves over the covered pizza base.
- 8-10 San Marzano tomatoes, haved
Bake pizza on a preheated baking stone on your oven’s highest setting ( ~8-12 mins on 240°C )
Finish with a splash of balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
More to Read
For more pizza goodness, head on over to our Pizza of the Week page where I’ll be posting this week’s pizza from the restaurant.
