Cilantro Pesto Pizza with Heirloom Tomatoes
 
 
Makes 1 pizza
Ingredients
Pizza dough:
  • 1½ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (see notes)
  • 1½ teaspoons sugar
  • 1⅛ teaspoons sea salt
  • ¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
  • ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
Cilantro pesto:
  • 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • 2 cups fresh cilantro
  • ¼ cup walnuts
  • ¼ cup grated Asiago cheese
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Topping:
  • 2 tablespoons grated Asiago cheese
  • ½ teaspoon dried chili flakes
  • sea salt
  • 1 medium heirloom tomato, thinly sliced and seeded
  • 2 tablespoons walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Make the pizza dough:
  1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
  2. Add water and olive oil to the flour mixture, stirring everything until it comes together to form a shaggy ball. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap (or a pizza pan) and put it in a warm place to rise for 2 hours.
  3. After 2 hours, the dough can be used right away or stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Prepare cilantro pesto:
  1. In a food processor or blender, purée all the pesto ingredients. Add 1 tablespoon water to loosen, if desired.
Make and bake the pizza:
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Stretch out dough to the desired shape and thickness and place on a pizza stone or baking sheet. If the dough is resisting, let it sit for about 5 minutes.
  3. Spread 3-4 tablespoons cilantro pesto over the dough in an even layer all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with Asiago cheese, chili flakes and a pinch of salt.
  4. Top with tomato, walnuts and mozzarella cheese.
  5. Bake for about 18 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbling.
Notes
You can replace some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour without significantly altering the texture. I used 1¼ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour in this crust.
Recipe by Two of a Kind at http://www.twoofakindcooks.com/cilantro-pesto-pizza-heirloom-tomatoes/