We love going out and getting pizza, but were absolutely astounded when we realized how much cheaper it is to make pizza at home — and it can taste just as good or even better! We found that, unless you’re going to make your own dough at home (more power to you!), the trick is using store-bought dough, not store-bought crust.
Starting with dough gives you more flexibility in terms of preparation and baking, and more control means better pizza; just how we like it! We haven’t met a pizza we didn’t like, but this pizza is definitely one of our faves. Creamy mozzarella paired with the pesto and the slight tang from the sun-dried tomato and the earthy rosemary — it doesn’t get better than that!
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pizz
Ingredients
- 1 (16 oz.) bag fresh refrigerated pizza dough
- 3 oz. sun-dried tomatoes, drained
- 4 cups fresh basil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for garnish
- 1 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, medium grate
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 6 sprigs rosemary, de-stemmed, chopped
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 500º F and lightly oil or spray a baking sheet.
- Remove pizza dough from fridge and let it come up to room temperature.
- In a food processor, combine basil, garlic and pine nuts, and pulse together.
- Continue pulsing while slowly drizzling in olive oil and lemon juice, until you’ve reached desired thickness and consistency.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
- Roll pizza dough out onto a lightly floured surface, to roughly 12-13-inches around. Try to make it thin, but not so thin that the dough tears. (If you want a rectangular pizza, it’s easier to use your hands.)
- Gently transfer dough to baking sheet and spread a thin layer of pesto sauce over the top, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge.
- Top pizza evenly with mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and add sun-dried tomatoes.
- Spread rosemary out over the top, drizzle with olive oil and place in oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until bubbly and crisped. Rotate half-way through.
- Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Then slice and serve hot.
Recipe adapted from Serious Eats