Pesto Pizza

Where do I even begin? It started with a pesto sauce, which culminated into one of the most delicious pizzas ever eaten by mankind. Seriously, yummy goodness. Once upon a time, there was a bushel of basil leaves that I picked up at the store on Saturday that I just had to have, convinced that I was going to find sooo many uses for it. I began brainstorming lots of recipe ideas (oh soooo very many, note the sarcasm) and came up with just one: Pesto.The next day, I went into the kitchen to prepare cupcakes for Father's day, got home late as can be and noticed my sad, droopy little basil bushel desperately seeking some water. The water seemed to revive my basil back to it's jubilant state. I decided right then and there that I would become an herb gardener and forever adhere to basil and parsley and dill alike!

Just kidding. :) Can you imagine that though? I can barely keep houseplants alive, think of the sorry little gardener I would be...

So today I made pizza, three pizzas to be exact. Two were cheese, and one was pesto heaven. It made the blackbirds sing. Although, I don't know why exactly. Perhaps they like Italian food, too??

Enough of the silliness, here is the recipe, Take it, make it, and baby don't break it ;)

Pesto Pizza:

• 1 recipe basic pizza dough
• 1 large handful of basil leaves, washed and stems removed
• 2 Tbs minced garlic
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with your pizza stone or baking pan still in the oven. (Note: If you do not have a pizza peel or something that you can easily use to slide your pizza into the oven on the stone or rack, then just bake it and shape it on a pizza pan and put the pizza pan in the oven with the pizza at the same time.)In a blender or food processor, add your basil, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and pulse a few minutes. Add the parmesan and pulse a few minutes more. It should have a slight pulpy consistency, but not too thick.

Form your pizza dough into a flat, circular shape by rolling, and lightly pulling at the edges. Go around the edges of the entire pizza until is as large as you want it. Add your pesto to the dough starting from the center and leaving 1 1/2 inches at the edges. Add your cheese on top evenly. Place in the oven on a pizza stone, baking pan, (or if you don't have a pizza peel, in the pizza pan) and bake for 10-11 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden and the cheese is fully melted. Serve hot!