In the Italian themed veggie pack I got from Bountiful Baskets, I got some fresh herbs, which included basil. I like pesto, but have never actually made it, so I decided the basil would be made into pesto. I still have some spinach left from my 1/7 basket, so the Spinach Basil Pesto recipe I came across on allrecipes.com seemed perfect to try. Since I had plenty of tomatoes to use, I wanted to make a pizza with the pesto as the sauce. I had sliced olives on hand, and I used chicken from a rotisserie chicken I bought at the store. I was hoping to also add feta cheese, but it didn’t make it into the fridge after the store, so I used mozzarella. The crust was from a pouch, since I’m really bad at making breads from scratch. The results were delicious! There are a number of other toppings that would go great with this, red onion, yellow onion, green peppers, mushrooms, so I suggest using your favorites!
Spinach Basil Pesto Pizza
What you need for the Pesto:
1 1/2 cups spinach leaves
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts, optional (I omitted them)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
How to make the Pesto:
Blend the spinach, basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor until nearly smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Drizzle the remaining olive oil into the mixture while processing until smooth.
What you need for Pizza:
Pizza crust, pre-made, from a pouch, or your favorite recipe to make a 12″ pizza
Pizza toppings, such as sliced tomatoes, cooked chicken, olives, mushrooms, onions, green peppers
Cheese, like crumbled feta, fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella
How to make the Pizza:
Prepare pizza crust. Spread pesto evenly on crust. Add the pizza toppings, then the cheese. Bake according to the directions for your crust, most likely around 425 F for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
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