Mushroom Pesto Pizza
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This Mushroom Pesto Pizza is made with a flavorful pesto sauce, sprinkled with mozzarella cheese, and topped with onion slices, mushrooms slices, and cherry tomatoes. The absolute perfect weeknight meal for summer.
This whole quarantine life made me hunger for junk foods and I was particularly craving for pizza this time. Since I was bored and had time, why bother with delivery when I could make them at home. I still had the previous homemade Walnut Basil Pesto from last week in my refrigerator, so I thought it was nice to use it as the pizza sauce. This pizza was the perfect solution for an easy effortless sauce that tasted fresh and flavorful.
For the pizza base, I made the dough from scratch. If you are feeling lazy to make it from zero, you can also use frozen or store-bought pizza dough which makes this recipe totally doable on a weeknight. The same also goes for the pesto. You can also use the store-bought pesto for this recipe. However, let me remind you that the fresh basil pesto is the best in terms of flavor.
How to Make Mushroom Pesto Pizza
1. Make the pizza dough
For the pizza dough, I mix all the ingredients and knead it with hands for 12 minutes until smooth. You can also use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment if you have one. It took 8-10 minutes by using the mixing paddle attachment. I use instant yeast so no proofing is required. If you are using active yeast instead, do not forget to sprinkle it over the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved before adding it to the other ingredients.
After the dough is smooth and elastic, let the dough rise for 1,5 hours. Deflate the dough and divide the dough into two balls. Let the dough sit for at least 15 minutes. While waiting for the dough to rest, prep the toppings.
After all the waiting, now we are ready for making the pizza base. Flatten the dough with your hands over a lightly floured work surface. Then, move the flatten the dough onto a 10 or 12-inch greased pizza pan. If you do not have pizza pans, you can also use baking sheets or round baking pans instead. Then, stretch the dough from the center to the outwards with your fingertips until the pizza pan is fully covered.
Next, I poke holes inside the crust with a fork to keep the dough from developing big air bubbles during the baking process. Poke holes all over the portion of the dough that will hold the toppings.
2. Spread the sauce
I used my Walnut Basil Pesto for the sauce. About 2,5 tablespoons of pesto sauce are enough for a pizza. Spread it evenly on the pizza dough, leaving the 1-inch edges uncovered. Then, I sprinkled grated mozzarella cheese on top. You can use only pesto and cheese for a simple version of pesto pizza, but I like to go heavy with my toppings.
3. Put the toppings
You can put any toppings you like. I chose onion, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes for the toppings. The onion adds a nice crispness and the cherry tomatoes add freshness to the pizza.
4. Bake the pizza
After spreading the sauce and toppings, the pizzas are now ready to bake. Put them in an oven at 475F/245°C for 10-15 minutes until the crust is golden and the cheese is fully melted. It is best eaten right away and I like to put more pesto on top so that the pizza will have the bold pesto flavor.
More Pesto Recipes
Do you love pesto? Check out also these recipes!
Ingredients
Pizza Crust
- 3 3/4 cups (480 gr) bread flour
- 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) warm water
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
Toppings
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) Basil Walnut Pesto
- 1 cup (225 gr) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 small onion, sliced thinly
- 8 champignon mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 3.5 oz (100 gr) cherry tomatoes, halved
Instructions
Pizza Crust
- In a big bowl, mix all of the pizza ingredients until a dough forms. Knead the dough until smooth. It takes about 10-12 minutes by hand or 8-10 minutes in a stand mixer.
- Spread a thin layer of oil inside a clean large bowl. Form dough into a ball and place it in the bowl.
- Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise and double for 90 minutes at a warm temperature.
- After the dough has doubled, punch down the dough. Transfer it to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough to release the gas. Divide the dough into two balls. Let them sit for at least 15-20 minutes.
Assemble
- Preheat oven to 475F/245°C. Lightly grease two pizza pans or baking sheets.
- Take a ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a lightly floured work surface. Put the flattened dough in a greased 10 or 12-inch pizza pan. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick until fully covers the pan. If you do not have a pizza pan, you can spread the dough onto a greased baking sheet. Repeat the process for the second ball of dough.
- Using a fork, poke holes across the inside of the crust. Spread the pesto with a spoon, leaving the edges uncovered. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, and place onion, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes on the pizza.
- Bake one at a time for about 10-15 minutes or until the crust is browned and the cheese is fully melted.
