Grilled Parsley Pesto Pizza

Since retruning from vacation laziness has set in and weeknight meals have become typical. When seeking suggestions from my husband pesto always creeps in to the conversation. Now the food Gods may strike me down but I dislike basil and thus pesto is not top on my list. Parsley though, I can live with and have tons always in the fridge. One of the other reasons I dislike pesto is it seems like a ton of bricks has hit my stomach after a meal and the parsley variation was surprisingly light.

Now I am a working girl and am lucky if I have an hour from start to finish to get the meal on the table. I cheated a bit and purchased fresh pizza dough from the market. This truly was unexpectedly light, topped with fresh mozzarella or fresh ricotta (an undervalued kitchen friend) this is very different from the usual cheese and pepperoni. Don't get me wrong nothing can replace my local pizza favorite this dish however is a great homemade alternative.

Parsley Pesto Pizza

Adapted from Michael Chiarello
Servings: 4 six inch pizzas

12 oz. pizza dough
Flour for rolling surface
1/2 cup parsley pesto (see below)
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
4 bocconcini fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
olive oil

Heat grill. Roll the dough in to 4 pizzas, each about 1/8 thick and 6 inches round. Brush each side with olive oil. Grill pizzas over medium heat until lightly brown around 5 minutes. Turn the pizzas over and spoon a few teaspoons of ricotta or 5 slices of mozzarella. Cook until the cheese is about to melt. Remove from grill and serve warm.


Parsley Pesto

From Gourmet

yields 1 cup

Note: pizza recipe called for a 1/2 cup, froze the remaining amount in airtight container
1 cup tight-packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Place parsley, walnuts, cheese, garlic and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until well combined. Combine oil, lemon and zest in a small bowl. Add the oil mixture to parsley mixture in a slow stream, pulsing to combine.