Saturday night is typically pizza-making night for my family, and one of the standard features of these evenings is pizza with pesto and fresh tomatoes. I use a good store-bought pesto, and, although I once made the dough in my bread machine, I now purchase excellent dough at our local Bertucci's restaurant and keep plenty on hand in the freezer. The dinner is simple and delicious.
A pizza stone is a worthwhile investment if you're partial to pizza with a crisp crust that doesn’t droop. For this recipe we used a large pizza stone (about 14 inches across). But don’t despair if you don't have one; we also achieved good results when we baked the pizza on a baking sheet.
Ingredients
Makes one 14-inch pizza
Special equipment:
Step 1
At least 1 hour before baking pizza, set stone on lowest rack of oven (if you have a gas stove, stone can go directly on oven floor) and preheat oven to 500°F.
Step 2
Coarsely grate mozzarella and cut tomatoes crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. On a floured surface with your hands pat out and stretch dough evenly into a 12-inch round, keeping hands flat. (Do not handle dough more than necessary. If dough is sticky, dust it lightly with flour.)
Step 3
Dust baker's peel with flour and carefully transfer inch round. Jerk peel once or twice and, if dough is sticking, lift dough and sprinkle flour underneath it, reshaping dough if necessary. Spread pesto over dough leaving a 1-inch border and sprinkle with cheese. Arrange tomato slices over cheese and season with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Line up far edge of peel with far edge of stone and tilt peel, jerking it gently to start pizza moving. Once edge of pizza touches stone, quickly pull back peel to completely transfer pizza to stone. Bake pizza until dough is crisp and brown, about 10 to 12 minutes, and transfer with peel to a cutting board.
Step 5
Cut pizza into slices and serve immediately.
How would you rate Pizza with Pesto, Fresh Tomatoes, and Mozzarella?
Leave a Review
Reviews (44)
Back to TopAbsolutely delicious! This is now part of our Friday night pizza on the grill rotation.
sallyodonnell622
San Diego, CA
7/22/2017
i enjoy the way in which this recipe looks i eaten it before with my loved ones all of us enjoyed this we could have a household gathering again and cook this recipe again soon this really is one tasty recipe you have to check it out i guarantee you whatever you should this its very tasty
sarah12jones212212312
2/3/2014
Excellent flavor w/the basil pesto. Only subs: mixed fresh mozzarella with fontina and italian cheese mix. Fontina is so much more creamy than moz in pizza. Plus I made fresh pizza dough using Wolfgang Puck recipe on web. This recipe is very simply and delicious. Wolfgang Puck is well known for great pizzas.
dherron
grand rapids, mi
12/4/2012
Made this tonight on the grill and it was great. I used store bought dough rolled fairly thin and added grilled chicken. Super easy and tasty...just the way I like it!
Anonymous
8/10/2011
I added grilled chicken cubes, substituted grape tomato halves for the plum tomato slices and threw on some grilled summer squash. Very yummy. And I cooked it on our bbq using our pizza stone which kept me from having to turn on the oven in 100F weather :)
janfran
Deep River, ON
8/5/2011
WOW. This was absolutely amazing. I followed the recipe except I used boxed pizza dough mix and store-bought mozzarella. Can't wait to make it again!
Catie_K
Fishers, Indiana
9/28/2010
这比萨配方是别的地方所难以企及的,尤其是现在that yummy dough is so easy to purchase and keep in he freezer. A few variations- I try to use wheat dough and roll it as thin as possibile. Sun Dried tomatoes in oil are a great sub when summer tomatoes are no longer available. Pine nuts sprinkled on top is a delicious addition and sometimes I'll add pre browned chicken sausage if I feel like some meat.
Anonymous
Portland Me
10/24/2008
only one word: DELICIOUS!
noraal
9/4/2008
I was searching this site for another fresh tomato recipe to use up our garden tomatoes. This popped up and we tried it using fresh pizza dough from Trader Joes. It was fabulous and so easy. I have always used corn meal on my peel for ease in transferring to the pizza stone. Works very well. Will be making this one again.
ceej2002
Minneapolis, MN
8/16/2008
I used Boboli for crust and it turned out so well. I love this recipe and will make it again.
Anonymous
New York, NY
10/17/2007
This is a great, easy idea for pizza (which is a weeknight staple at our house using pizza dough from the bakery down the street). We used homemade pesto (frozen from the summer's basil bounty), homegrown tomatoes, and regular mozzarella instead of fresh. A slice of summer!
JuliaSilge
CT
9/5/2007
great pizza, and we are very fussy about meatless meals in our home. i used roma tomatoes which tend to be less watery and more robust flavoured. also home made crust is a must.
Anonymous
Pender Island BC
6/23/2007
Very, very simple. I made this with store bought dough and pesto and regular shredded mozzarella. Very tasty.
Anonymous
Hamden CT
3/19/2007
Really yummy! To the cook whose pizza was watery - the culprit was the fresh mozzarella. If you use fresh, you'll have to put it in a sieve or mesh bowl and weight it with something to press out the water. An easier option is to just use a high-quality whole milk mozz from the cheese section. DON'T use pre-shredded as that is treated with cellulose to keep it from clumping up and makes the cheese dry out.
Anonymous
Boston, MA
8/9/2005
This is a fabulous quick meal! Great, fresh taste with a gourmet flare. We used a "Boboli" crust to speed up the prep time and added a little fresh goat cheese and ricotta as well. This has become a favorite stand-by in my house!
Anonymous
Aurora, IL
8/1/2005
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