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Pesto, Ricotta, and Grape Tomato Pizza

It has taken Josh and I a couple of years to really get comfortable making our own pizza dough. Now that we’ve perfected that recipe, it’s time to play with flavors, and we love playing with pizza flavors. We really should post more of our pizza recipes because there have been so many, but by the time the pizza comes out of the oven for picture taking, the light is gone and our stomachs are growling. That’s a very bad combination. But as luck would have it, we got our act together early enough to share this amazing pizza with all of you.

This pizza is glorious! Between the delicious pesto you top the pizza with to the browned mozzarella, your stomach is well aware it’s in for a treat. You will find yourself watching the hands of the clock slowly tick by while you wait for this pizza to come out of the oven.

My only suggestion when making this pizza, that Tina (from My Life as a Mrs.) didn’t do when she created it, is choosing which tomatoes to use. Maybe in her area of the world, the cherry tomatoes are small. In my area, they are huge. So when Josh sent me to the store to grab the cherry and not the grape, I was hesitant, but I went with it. I would suggest buying whatever tomato happens to be the smaller of the two, because the cherry tomatoes on our pizza are quite large. When I went to take bites of my pizza, I actually had to end up cutting the tomatoes in half, which really ruins the purpose of using a whole tomato on a pizza since it’s supposed to pop in your mouth. These cherry tomatoes do indeed pop, but it’s more of a pop than I bargained for, lol! Live and learn right? So now that I’ve prepared you properly for when you venture out to find the perfect small tomato to top this pizza with, you’re set to go. Make this pizza. I promise, it’s so good, it might make your heart stop, or at least skip a beat! ;)

Pesto, Ricotta, and Grape Tomato Pizza
1/3-1/2 cup pesto
8 ounces mozzarella, shredded
3-4 ounces ricotta cheese
1 cup grape tomatoes
flour for dusting
cornmeal, for the pizza stone
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees with the pizza stone in the oven. Roll dough out into a large circle, or two smaller circles if you have a smaller pizza stone. 
Sprinkle pre-heated pizza stone with cornmeal and carefully place pizza dough on the stone and par bake it for 4-6 minutes. Carefully remove the crust from the oven using a pizza peel. Spread pesto over the entire pizza crust in an even thin layer. Sprinkle with fresh mozzarella, and scoop the ricotta evenly over the cheese using a small cookie scoop or spoon. Evenly spread tomatoes on top. 
Bake at 425 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly and tomatoes have begun to burst (8-12 minutes). If the crust is getting to dark, turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Remove from oven and serve!

Jenn Cochran

Saturday 23rd of June 2012

YUM. LOL the tomatoes ARE pretty big, but they look delicious!

glutenfreehappytummy.com

Wednesday 20th of June 2012

looks so delicious! i love the big grape tomatoes on there~