Fresh Tomato Pesto & Fresh Mozzarella Pizza (Pizza night!)

By May, I am eagerly anticipating the first tomatoes of the season.  I cannot wait for the taste of a summer tomato with mayo, salt and pepper and good bread. Or in a panzanella.  Tomatoes just taste SO GOOD when you haven't eaten a fresh one in ages!   By September, however, I am usually over the taste of fresh tomatoes.  I'll still save out a few from the farm share for sandwiches and burgers, but the rest of the tomatoes will get canned or slow-roasted and put up for winter.  Last fall, however, a happy coincidence changed my mind and caused this delicious pizza to come about.

This is the taste of tomatoes at their peak, and it's simply awesome.

The sauce for this pizza came from a recipe that Heather at In Her Chucks posted.  Her recipe was for Cherry Tomato Pesto, using cherry tomatoes and salted almonds.  When I got yellow tomatoes in the farm share, I decided to try it.  I didn't have almonds, but I did have some salted cashews in the freezer so I swapped for them.  I also used less oil because when I went to scrape down the food processor bowl I found the sauce consistency to my liking without the additional oil. I made so much fresh tomato pesto that it deserved its own post--here's how to make it and put it up. Since there is no cheese in this pesto, the pizza crust and sauce combo contain no animal products.  Topping your pizza with soy cheese would result in a vegan-friendly pizza.

I found fresh mozzarella marked down at the grocery store (snag it when you see it, it freezes/thaws well when you're using it for pizza) and the mental image of the bright yellow sauce with the white circles of cheese appealed to me.  Giant pepperoni slices added a final pop of color, as my kid would say, and the whole family loved this pizza.

Pay no attention to the broccoli rabe, that was for this pizza

Fresh Tomato Pesto and Fresh Mozzarella Pizza

1 pound pizza dough (see my Pizza Primer here)
1 cup fresh tomato pesto (here's how I make and put up mine)
4 ounces sliced fresh mozzarella
1 ounce sliced pepperoni (optional)
Pasta Sprinkle (or other Italian seasoning blend)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, if you have a baking stone, preheat it too (mine lives in my oven). On an oiled piece of parchment paper, stretch out dough in a rough circle.  Spread half of the tomato pesto sauce on the crust.  Add mozzarella circles, but don't put them too close to the edges as they spread--a lot.  If desired, top with pepperoni.  Shake Pasta Sprinkle or other Italian seasoning blend over entire pie.  Bake, with parchment below crust, 5-8 minutes on a baking stone or cookie sheet.  Shake the crust onto the bare stone or cookie sheet, removing the parchment, and continue baking another 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.  Slice, serve, and enjoy!

This post is running back to see Heather, who first shared the Fresh Tomato Pesto, at What's In The Box, the From The Farm Blog Hop, the Clever Chicks Blog Hop and What's Cookin' Wednesday.