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Spring Pizza- Arugula Pesto, Basil Pesto

March 16th, 2011

Spring Pizza- Arugula Pesto, Basil Pesto

In honor of St. Patricks day and because I feel Spring fast approaching, I was craving something fresh and green. I thought about Pizza, and about figuring out how to make a *bright* green pizza, or, well four different types of bright green Pizza!

Pesto is the easiest route to go, but I blanched the herbs before I blended them in order to keep the color bright and fresh. I also went ahead and made two different varieties of pesto. A lighter version of the traditional pesto and then a really gorgeous Arugula pesto thickened with pumpkin seeds.

The color effect was pretty fantastic, and I topped them with fresh spring vegetables that had been lightly blanched, (asparagus, green peas, micro greens, and then a handful of fresh raw tear drop tomatoes and golden beets)

Complimenting such beautiful produce and pesto was easy, I just used a few different types of cheeses (truffled fontina, goat cheese and finely grated pecorino romano).

In the end, use whatever you want to top your pizza with- just use the green for inspiration!

Also, unless you are going to use store bought Pizza dough, (many stores carry it, in Seattle I pick it up at Trader Joes or Metropolitan market)- you can make it fresh pretty easily. This is a great recipe from Simply Recipes.

Spring Pizza
1/2 recipe Pizza dough (enough for 1 large Pizza or 4 smaller ones)
Arugula Pesto
Basil Pesto
Selection of Cheeses (I recommend truffled Fontina, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese or Pecorino Romano)
Selection of fresh Spring vegetables, blanched (I recommend asparagus, green peas, micro greens, and then a handful of fresh raw tear drop tomatoes and golden beets)
Olive oil, truffle oil (optional)
Salt

Arugula Pesto, makes 2 cups
Large bunch of Fresh Arugula (about 3-4 cups)
½ cup Pumpkin seeds
1 Garlic clove
½ a Lemon, juiced
1/3 cup Olive oil
salt to taste

Blanche the arugula (briefly boil in salted water and plunge into ice water).

Drain the arugula well and combine in a blender with the rest of the ingredients.

Puree until smooth. Season with salt.

Pia tasting the arugula Pesto…

She liked it so much, she fed it to her sister…

Coco says “mmmmm”….

like their matching aprons? *Swoon*

Basil Pesto, makes 1 cup
Large bunch Fresh Basil (about 2 cups)
¼ cup Walnuts
1 Garlic clove
½ a Lemon, Juiced
¼ cup Olive Oil
Salt to taste

Blanche the basil (briefly boil in salted water and plunge into ice water).

Drain the basil well and combine in a blender with the rest of the ingredients.

Puree until smooth. Season with salt.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

To assemble the Pizza, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface.

If you are using a pizza stone, sprinkle the stone with a little cornmeal, If you are using a sheet pan, drizzle the pan with olive oil.

Set the dough on the pan and drizzle the dough with more olive oil.

Bake the dough (without any toppings- it helps it not to get soggy) for about 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and spread the dough with pesto, cheeses and vegetables.

Bake the Pizza’s for another 10 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted.

These are the combinations that I made:

-Arugula Pesto, finely grated Pecorino Romano and asparagus stalk rounds and tear drop tomatoes

-Olive Oil, Truffled Fontina and asparagus tips, drizzled at the end with truffle oil.

-Basil Pesto, truffled fontina and green peas and micro greens dressed with truffle oil.

-Arugula Pesto, goat cheese and golden beets and chives.

Enjoy!