My favorite pesto pizza

So, the recipe for the ham and fontina sandwiches called for a mayo-pesto mixture, which means I had more than half of a container of pesto leftover. What to do, what to do...make pizza!

One of my favorite homemade pizza options is a simple combination of pesto, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. When I lived in South Carolina, I routinely grabbed a bag of pizza dough from a refrigerated case in the bakery at Publix. Strangely, now that I'm closer to the pizza mecca of New Jersey, I find it harder to get good pizza dough from the grocery stores. So I decided to try Pioneer Woman's recipe this time. I was so prepared to love this dough because it came together into such a nice ball that was sticky but still easy to handle. Here it is, ready to be covered with a towel to proof.

And here is the other half of it (the recipe makes enough for 2 pizzas), ready to pop in the freezer for a later meal. When I used that yummy Publix dough, I usually divided the dough in thirds with a sharp, serrated knife (that should have been my first clue, as I was able to twist this dough in half with my hands) and froze the other two balls. The Publix dough was supposed to make just one pizza, so dividing it into thirds made for 3 small pizzas right-sized for a solo diner. At least, for a solo diner with a feminine appetite. The whole thing would be right-sized for one meal for my youngest brother.

Pioneer Woman's recipe makes a good, quick dough with about the same consistency as the box version my mom used to buy and make. It doesn't have the same great stretchy, gluteny, crusty, pizza doughy texture that I prefer. But it's a good enough option if I happen to be in a hurry since it only needs an hour to proof. (My usual recipe calls for 1 1/2 hours, and I often make it ahead and let it proof overnight in the fridge.) And since it isn't so stretchy, it actually pushes out nicely to fill an entire half sheet pan (i.e., the biggest size sheet pan that fits in a normal oven. It gets called a "half sheet" because commercial kitchens actually use even bigger ones that don't fit in home ovens.)

To make this pizza, make the dough (or use your favorite store bought) and stretch it out on a sheet pan smeared with olive oil or a pizza stone. Top with a thin layer of pesto. It's perfectly fine to have spots that look a little bare. A little pesto goes a long way. Half a container of Butoni will cover a whole pizza. Top with very thin slices of tomato. Cover generously with shredded mozzarella. (You can also toss on some chopped up cooked chicken - yum!)

Bake until the cheese is starting to brown and bubble and the crust is slightly browned in spots. Pioneer Woman had me baking her recipe at 500 for 10 minutes; I usually do 400 for 15-20 minutes. Basically, you want a hot oven and not a lot of time.