Portobello Pesto Pizza

I won’t be posting on GMT this week. It’s just that I have a ton of recipes in my drafts, so I decided this week I’ll catch up on the backlog of posts I have.

My basil plant has been flourishing and I had tons of basil leaves. Of course, I had to make pesto. While looking for ways to use that pesto, I stumbled upon Brown eyed Baker’s Portobello pesto pizza.

I love Michelle’s site and she has a ton of great recipes to choose from. Luckily, I had some frozen homemade pizza dough that I needed to use up and this recipe fit the bill perfectly.

PORTOBELLO PESTO PIZZA

On our recent trip to the Grand Canyon, we stopped at Flagstaff for lunch. We went to the Beaver st. Brewery where we tried their Enchanted Forest Pizza which was quite reminiscent of this pizza. And V actually thought the one I had made was much better. This recipe is definitely a keep!

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

I used Peter Reinhart’s Pizza crust recipe (which I’ll post another day). You can also use Michelle’s recipe for the pizza base.

For the topping:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced (I used button mushrooms as that’s what I had on hand)
• ¼ of a red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup pesto (homemade or store-bought)
• 8 ounces provolone cheese, shredded
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Pizza base dough

Assemble the Pizza:

1. Heat oven to 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes.
2. While the oven is preheating, prepare the mushrooms and onions.
3. Melt the butter over medium heat and add the sliced mushrooms and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released all of their liquid and both the mushrooms and onions are soft and browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Form a piece of dough into a smooth, round ball and cover it with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
5. Flatten the dough ball into a disk using the palms of your hands. I made a rectangle pizza. So I rolled my pizza into a rectangular shape. You could head over to brown eyed baker’s site in case you want to roll it into a round.Transfer your prepared pizza dough to a pizza peel, parchment-lined baking sheet or pizza pan (whichever you are using).
6.  Spread the pesto over the pizza dough, just as you would pizza sauce, leaving a ½-inch border uncovered. Spread the mushroom and onion mixture evenly over the pesto, and then top with the provolone and Parmesan cheeses. Slide the dough onto the heated stone, or place your baking sheet or pizza pan into the oven.
7. Bake until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden brown in spots, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, slice and serve.