365 Recipes - #21 - Basil Pesto Pizza

Basil Breath and Teddy Bear Bread

(I was thinking the other day that my blog post titles were very bland now that I'm adding the recipe numbers... so... if I remember... I'll try to come up with a fun sub title.)

I know when I've had an over load of Basel Pesto Pizza when the next morning... yes excuse me ladies but it must be said.... the next morning you burp and you get a faint "reminder" of the amount of basil you consumed the night before... it was quite hysterical.

Innocently at work sitting at my desk...boom... there it was, an instant reminder of the yummy yummy pesto pizza from the night before. Tehehe

Basil Pesto Pizza is the BOMB... wait, should I be typing BOMB on here? Well it IS the BOMB. I absolutely love it. Trader Joe's (if you have not realized by now, is one of my most favorite food stores to shop in) has this yummy premade Basil Pesto Pizza... It's affordable and all, but I am on this crazy cooking adventure so I thought I could just make my own.

I shopped around the store and and found all the necessary ingredients. I grabbed some premade pizza dough (come on now... it was already 8pm and I was not in the mood to make it from scratch), and I found premade basil Pesto in a jar, some canned diced tomatoes.... and a log of fresh Motz. (I plan on learning how to make home made pesto as soon as I get a food processor... promise !)

Upon opening the premade pizza dough I was slammed with memories. The dough was so fresh and the yeast was just powerful enough to hit you in the face with a wonderful smell. It brought back so many memories. First big memory was of my Grandmother and back when I was a weee little girl with pigtails, one day we made teddy bear bread... Teddy Bear Bred is well... bred in the shape of a Teddy Bear... and baked in the oven. It was very cute, and it even had raisin buttons ! When I get a chance I'll sort through all my old photos... I know I have a photo of it some where... I think... and scan it in.... anyway it was cute, and yummy.

Second memory from the yeast came from my days at the bakery. Did I tell you I worked at a bakery for like 6 years of my life? And I wonder where my hips and butt come from ! Well there would be times in the back kitchen that would smell just like this pizza dough... ahh memories. I love how smells and aromas can bring back forgotten memories like that.

Well this yeast smell was sooo yummy, sooo fresh, and soooo begging for needing and rolling out in to a yummy pizza crust.

And that's what I did.

(and PLEASE PLEASE forgive my horrible photographs, has such a hard time white balancing... ugh... not my best work at all !)



First I grabbed the can of diced tomatoes, and I strained out all the extra juice so the pizza wouldn't be so... juicy... I would have diced my own tomatoes here, and I suggest it here... because it is just good... yeah... good.... but off I go with my canned diced tomatoes....

I let it sit and drain while I started to do other things....

Here is the dough I used... It was very fresh and yummy. Let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before taking it out of the bag and working with it.

I spread out a good amount of flower... obviously my camera saw bluish white flower... ugh...

Then I gently kneed out the dough and form it in to this....

Then I used my hands, and not a rolling pin, and I pushed the dough out in to a large circle... I tried the "spin the dough up in the air and catch it trick" ... and well lets just say... I almost had dish water pizza ! Reminder to self not to do that again... or at least not to do it over a dish full of water and dishes HA!

I got a decent shape out of the dough about a foot or bigger in diameter.

I oiled my pizza pan (or you can use your pizza stone to bake it on... up to you just make sure it's hot) Then I placed the dough in the center.

I spread out the tomatoes.

And then the pesto... looking aback I think I would have rather spread the pesto on first... then the tomatoes... that would have been better layering...

I shredded my own fresh motz and sprinkled it all over the top... YUM ( I even snuck some, because it's just that good.)

For some reason I needed more basil... and I did this... again... looking back I think I should have done that AFTER I baked the pizza... but hey... I'm learning here.

In the oven it went... I think it was set to 375. Now the directions said to cook it for 8 minutes... It actually took twice as long as that to cook... Maybe I should have gotten the pizza pan with the holes in it? Oh well, I'm learning...

Here it is... what a horrible photo LOL really I don't know what my camera was doing, or what I was doing wrong... bla

Well at least this photo came out looking yummy... and it was very yummy, and I definitely plan on making it again... and with different toppings.

Recipe #21, 344 more to go.

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