Pesto Pizza

oh-so-easy pesto

I love this time of year!  Ripe, juicy tomatoes bursting off the vine, sweeter-than-candy sweet corn being sold on the honor system from yard-stands sprinkled throughout the countryside, endless varieties of eggplant and peppers and an over-abundance of fresh herbs.  Like basil!  I recently came home from a trip to a friend's house with bags and bags of basil.  She had given me sweet Italian basil, Thai basil, pepper basil, and Ruben basil.  What to do with all that basil?

Of course, the obvious answer is make pesto.  Which I did.  I made a big batch and tossed it with bow tie pasta and spicy Italian sausage.  It was yummy!  The next day I made another patch and slathered it on top of individual pizzas.  Oh!  So good!  Today, I'm going to use up all the rest of the basil and make pesto for the freezer so I can continue enjoying the taste of summer even when the winter snow is on the ground!

My idea for the pizzas was inspired by a bottle of Carmen's Habitual Habanero that I always have sitting on the counter next to the stove.  This stuff is soooo good!  Of course, you can make this pizza without the Carmen's oil, but you will have no idea what you are missing!!!  You can read about the company and order a bottle for yourself by clicking here.

For my pizza, I started out by spreading a generous layer of pesto on top of a bread square.

Next, I sprinkled on a layer of sliced red onions, covered that with thin slices of fresh, juicy tomatoes, then drizzled on the Carmen's Habitual Habanero.  (This stuff packs a wallop and will leave your lips tingling happily!)

I sprinkled the tomatoes with torn chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese.

After baking at 425 for 10 minutes, my pizza came out of the oven looking like this:

Here is my simple recipe for pesto.

Ingredients:


1/4 cup pine nuts
2 large cloves garlic
2 cups tightly packed basil
2/3 cups EVOO (olive oil)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino cheese

Method:


1.  Throw the pine nuts, garlic, and basil into the bowl of a small food processor (I used a hand blender) and process until finely chopped.

2.  Blend in the olive oil and then the cheese.

3.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.