Tomato and Pesto Pizza

So, Paul and I switched around our meals for the week because we needed something quick last night. And oh my goodness. This pizza was so yummy! It has so much flavor! The pesto combined with the tomatoes and cheese just works. It's simple and fast, and it's DEE-vine. Seriously.

Tomato and Pesto Pizza
Ingredients:
pizza dough (I used the Pillsbury kind in the tube...it was very yummy!)
1/4 c. pesto (I think I ended up using more than that...I just spread a thin layer over the whole crust...I didn't measure)
2-3 c. mozzarella cheese, grated
2-3 fresh tomatoes, sliced
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese
dried basil


Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (the original recipe says 400, but the pizza dough I used said 425). Roll out your pizza dough onto a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Spread pesto evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle generously with mozzarella cheese. Place tomatoes on top of the cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Next, sprinkle with additional mozzarella cheese (as you can see from my pictures we ran out of mozzarella, so I had to use cheddar), parmesan cheese, and finally, basil. Bake for 12-15 minutes, checking after 10. Ours was actually perfect after 10 minutes.


The only drawback I can think of about this pizza is that pesto is pretty expensive to buy. It seems that it would be cheaper to make your own, but that would make it ever so much more difficult. The recipes for pesto I looked at all take at least 45 minutes to prepare. I guess you just have to weigh your options...splurge on the store-bought pesto, or be adventurous and make your own!

Oh, and Mandy pointed out that you could add chicken to the pizza, and it would probably be delicious, too!

Thank you Favorite Family Recipes for this amazing pizza! Here's a link to the original recipe on their site: Tomato and Pesto Pizza.