My Favorite Made From Scratch Pesto Pizza

This is by far one of the best pizzas I have ever made. I love to make my own pizza dough, but I never realized that using bread flour instead of all purpose will leave you with an extremely crispy and amazing crust.

If you don't have bread flour on hand, you can definitely use all purpose, you'll just get a chewier crust. I also recommend making your own homemade pesto. I can always taste the difference between a store bought pesto and homemade one. The homemade is always so much more flavorful and fresh!

This pizza may sound time consuming considering you are making the dough and pesto, but it is actually extremely easy to throw together. I love this dish because you can make the pesto and dough the day before you plan on making the pizza. Just wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store the pesto in a container and put both in the fridge overnight.

About 30 minutes before you plan on rolling out your dough, take the dough out of the fridge so that it can reach room temperature. It's that easy!

Once you make this pizza once, you'll be making it over and over again for every pizza night at your house. I had to really control myself and not go back for a third piece (trust me it was hard to resist another piece). I really hope you and your family or friends love this pizza. Enjoy!

My Favorite Made From Scratch Pesto Pizza:

Basil Pesto:

2 cups fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup spinach

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1. Puree all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Store in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Pizza Dough:

(recipe adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com)

3 1/2 cups bread flour (or all purpose)

1 1/2 cups water (110°)

1 (1/4 ounce) packet active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1. Put the warm water in a small bowl. Add the yeast and stir to combine. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour and salt. The bread flour makes the crust very crispy (use all purpose if you want a chewier crust). Add the yeast mixture to the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to hold together.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is elastic and forms a ball. Transfer the ball of dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 2 hours.
4. After 2 hours, punch down the dough and let rest for another hour. 
5. Preheat the oven to 450° and spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. I also like to sprinkle some corn meal on the bottom of the baking sheet to give extra texture to the pizza.
6. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a large thin circle, or a few mini pizza circles. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and top with the ingredients listed below.

Pizza Toppings:

1-2 cups basil pesto (recipe above)

2 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

1. Spread the pesto over the pizza dough, leaving about a 1 inch edge. Top with the mozzarella and the sliced tomatoes. Top with a little more pesto, if desired. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is crispy and golden brown.