Thin-crust Pesto Pizza ready to eat

I love thin crust pizza. When my dad recommended a pesto pizza, I couldn’t resist. Pizza dough has intimidated me in the past. It turned out too bread-like, too thick or too dry. Usually, I like to buy plain Tony’s Pizza and top it with beautiful veggies. But after making this recipe, inspired by “Cook’s Illustrated,” for thin-crust pizza dough, I don’t think I can ever go back. It is crisp and easy to make.

This is even easier if you use a store bought flat bread like lavash or other thin pizza crust. In this case, simply pile on about 2 inches high of baby spinach. Then drizzle with pesto and top with grated mozzarella and shredded parmesan or Romano cheese. Bake at 425 degrees until the cheese bubbles and begins to brown.

Thin-crust Pesto Pizza recipe

Yield: Two 14-inch pizzas

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons water
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Toppings:

• 10 cups Fresh Spinach
• 2 cups grated cheese (mozzarella and shredded Parmesan or Romano)

Pesto:

• 2–3 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3–4 cloves fresh, crushed garlic
• salt to taste
• Optional: 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pine nuts, almonds or walnuts

Blend until smooth

Directions:

On Day 1 — the day before you plan to bake and eat the pizza

1. Combine flour, yeast, honey, and salt in work bowl of food processor (or by hand in mixing bowl) fitted with steel blade. With machine running, add all but 2 tablespoons water through feed tube. With machine still running, add olive oil through feed tube and process until dough forms a ball, about 30 seconds. Turn dough out onto work surface.
2. Place dough in plastic bag and seal. Refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours.

On Day 2

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, set baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Heat baking stone 1 hour before proceeding. If you don’t have a baking stone, use a cooking sheet, but don’t preheat it.
2. Remove dough from plastic bag and divide in half. Set each half in center of a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper. Cover each with plastic wrap. Let dough rounds rest 10 minutes.
3. Setting one dough round aside, and keeping plastic wrap on top roll the other into a 14-inch shape with even thinness of 1/32-inch, using tackiness of dough against parchment to help roll.
4. Peel off plastic wrap. With scissors, trim excess parchment so that it is just larger than dough.
5. Slip dough with parchment onto pizza peel, inverted rimmed baking sheet, or rimless cookie sheet, then slide onto hot baking stone. Bake for 4 minutes. Remove from oven with pizza peel or pull parchment with pizza onto baking sheet and place on the counter.
6. Pile on about 2″ high of baby spinach. Drizzle with pesto, top with one cup grated cheese.
7. Bake until cheese bubbles and crust is a deep golden brown, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven with pizza peel or pull parchment with pizza onto baking sheet. Transfer pizza to cutting board, slide parchment out from under pizza; cut pizza into wedges and slide onto wire rack. Let cool 2 minutes until crisp; serve.
8. While first pizza is baking, repeat steps 3 through 7 to prepare second pizza. Allow baking stone to reheat 15 minutes after baking first pizza.

Enjoy!