How to Bake Pesto Pizza

Yields: one 14’’ pizza

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients needed to make Pesto Pizza:

For the pesto:

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp walnuts
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup olive oil

For the pizza dough:

• 10 oz all purpose flour
• 2 oz rye flour
• 5 oz wheat flour
• 1 medium baking potato, peeled and chopped into medium sized dices
• 1 ¾ tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup warm water

For the toppings:

• 2 oz Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 3 oz provolone cheese
• 3 oz mozzarella , grated

Cooking instructions  Pesto Pizza:

• For the pesto, throw in the walnuts in a small skillet and toast them for about 5 minutes, shaking them often in the pan, until they are fragrant; transfer it to a food processor.
• Add the garlic to the pan and toast them for about 5 minutes, stirring them frequently, until they become fragrant and remove from heat to cool for several minutes.
• Peel off the skin of garlic and chop them finely.
• Dump them into the food processor along with the parsley, basil, olive oil and ½ tsp of salt.
• Pulse them into a smooth paste and pour it into a small bowl.
• Sprinkle the grated parmesan on top of it, along with rest of the salt and stir them well together to mix; set aside in a fridge until required.
• For the dough, cook the potatoes for about 10-15 minutes until they soften and are cooked through; drain them off and set aside until they are cool enough to handle.
• Meanwhile, place the flour into the bowl of a clean food processor and stir in the yeast and a dash of salt.
• Once the potatoes cool down, process them through a ricer into the bowl of flour.
• Stir them all together until well combined and pour in water while processing the mixture with a  dough hook attachment at low speed.
• Once the ingredients gather together to form a sticky dough, drizzle a couple of tbsp of oil into it and continue to process for several seconds or until the dough turns smooth and less sticky.
• Place it into a slightly greased bowl, cover it with a plastic wrap and set aside for about 45 minutes or until it rises to becomes double its size.
• Pour rest of the olive oil in a 14’’ deep pizza pan and keep it aside until required.
• Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.
• Dust a baking sheet generously with flour and place the risen dough on it.
• Punch it back to its previous size and mould it into a round, 12’’ wide pizza with your hands.
• Place the flattened dough onto the pizza pan and pull its sides upto the edges of the pan to form a crust around them.
• Cover and set aside for half an hour to let it rise.
• Remove the over and poke it with a fork at several places.
• Lower the temperature of the oven to 425 degrees F and bake the pizza crust in the oven for about 15 minutes.
• Spread the pesto across it and top it up with layers of the three types of cheese.
• Bake it further for another 15 minutes or until the cheese melts and the base turns golden brown.
• Let it rest for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.
• Slice and serve.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons