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pistachio pesto

Grilled zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza

July 6, 2018 by vytran24

This grilled zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza is absolutely delicious with fresh zucchini blossoms, milky mozzarella, creamy burrata, and bits of pancetta held together by a crispy, chewy crust. 

pesto ingredients

For us summer means grilling season and time to dust off the grill.  We grill everything–ribs, chicken, fish, shellfish, veggies, fruits, and even pizza.  Our friend, LD, gave us the idea for grilling pizzas a few years ago and we’ve been hooked since.  To celebrate summer, I’m excited to partner with Wonderful Pistachios to share a recipe for grilled zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza.  

pizza base with pesto

This pizza is pesto based, topped with milky mozzarella, creamy burrata, bits of pancetta, and held together by a crispy, chewy crust.  For the crust, I made a yeast based dough that took me months to perfect but it’s become my go to pizza dough.  The basic pizza dough consists of only four ingredients–flour, water, salt, and yeast, but I added sugar to help with the fermentation process and a touch of olive oil to relax the dough. It takes minutes to put together and you can throw it in the Kitchenaid mixer using the dough hook attachment for a no knead dough.

zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza

Pistachio pesto is a staple in our home and it’s a great accompaniment to just about anything.  I used Wonderful Pistachios roasted and salted pistachios because of their rich and fatty flavor.  All the ingredients were tossed into the mortar and pounded until everything came together. The lemon zest and juice bring a freshness and beautiful balance to the pistachios. This recipe makes more pesto than you’ll need but don’t worry about your leftover going to waste.  It lasts for a week in the fridge and goes well with bruschetta, roasted vegetables, chicken, fish, and pasta.

Zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza

The toppings are simple but utilizes the best summer ingredients–zucchini blossoms accompanied by mozzarella, burrata, and pancetta.  Splurge on the best-quality toppings for the best pizza.  I used mozzarella and burrata but you can add ricotta or your favorite cheese.  The saltiness of the pancetta lends a nice contrast to the creamy cheese and sweet zucchini.  If you want more meat, paper thin slices of San Daniele prosciutto or Parma ham would be perfect with the zucchini blossoms.  After seven minutes on the grill at 475 degrees F, you get a drool worthy pizza that tastes as good as it looks.  I topped the pizza with chive blossoms from the garden and a few drops of truffle oil to bring everything together.

Zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza

This recipe calls for a grilled pizza but not having a grill is not the end of the world. You can mimic the effect by setting your oven to the highest temperature and preheating a pizza stone. The only thing missing will be that smoky taste from the fire and slightly charred crust.  Once you taste this grilled pizza, you’ll never want to go back to the oven.

Zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza

Thank you Wonderful Pistachios for sponsoring this post. And as always all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Beyond Sweet and Savory.

zucchini blossom pistachio pizza

If you try this recipe, please let us know how you like it! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #beyondsweetandsavory on Instagram.  We truly appreciate your feedback and incorporate them to continually improve our recipes.

If you try this recipe, please let us know how you like it! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #beyondsweetandsavory on Instagram. We truly appreciate your feedback and incorporate them to continually improve our recipes.

5 from 4 votes
Zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza
Print
Grilled zucchini blossom pistachio pesto pizza
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Resting time
1 hr 5 mins
Total Time
35 mins
 

This grilled pizza is pesto based, topped with mozzarella, creamy burrata, bits of pancetta, and held together by a crispy, chewy crust.

Course: Entree
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: Grilling, Pizza
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 8 oz pizza dough
  • 1/3 cup pistachio pesto
  • 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
  • 4 oz burrata, cut into small pieces
  • 6-8 zucchini blossoms
  • 2 oz pancetta, cut into small pieces
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • Chive blossoms for serving
  • Black truffle oil for drizzling
Pizza dough
  • 1 cup “00” flour
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup water, lukewarm
  • 1 tsp yeast
  • 1 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil and extra for greasing
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Pistachio pesto
  • 2 cups basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup pistachios, Wonderful Pistachios roasted and salted
  • 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsps freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
  1. To make the pizza dough, in a small bowl, mix the lukewarm water, yeast, and sugar until well combined. Leave in a warm place for 5 minutes or until frothy. Stir in the olive oil.

  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours and salt. 

  3. Pour the yeast mixture over the dry ingredients and use your hands to bring the mixture together to form a dough.

  4. In an electric mixture with the dough hook attachment, add the dough and mix for about five minutes on slow speed until everything is just incorporated.

  5. Lightly grease the inside of a clean dry bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside.

  6. Place a tea towel over the dough and leave in a warm place for 60 minutes until the dough double in size. This will give the gluten structure and strength and the dough will become elastic.

  7. When ready to make the pizza, set up the grill by placing coals on one side and lighting them. Rake the coals to create a flat even bed to create an even steady heat zone. Let the temperature reach to 475-500 degrees F. Place the pizza stone on the grill and let it heat up.

  8. While the grill is warming up, prepare the pizza. Dust a clean work surface lightly with semolina flour. Use your fist to knock the dough back with one good punch to let any air out.

  9. Divide the dough in half. Roll out the dough to a 12x8 inch oval with ⅛ inch thick.  Save the extra dough for another pizza.

  10. Transfer the pizza base onto a piece of baking paper so transferring the assembled pizza to the heated stone will be easier.

  11. Prick the pizza base all over with a fork.

  12. Spread the pesto over the pizza base, leaving a ½ inch border. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the pesto.

  13. Add the zucchini blossoms, pancetta, and cut burrata pieces. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

  14. Transfer the pizza onto the heated pizza stone. Cook the pizza on the grill for 7-10 minutes or until golden and crisp.

  15. Use a pizza paddle, carefully transfer the pizza to a serving plate. Drizzle with a few drops of truffle oil and garnish with chive blossoms. Serve immediately.

Filed Under: Grilling Tagged With: burrata, grilling, mozzarella, pancetta, pistachio pesto, pizza, pizza dough, truffle oil, zucchini blossom

Ramp and pistachio pesto

May 30, 2017 by vytran24

This ramp and pistachio pesto has a beautiful garlic kick that complements everything from pasta, protein, to toast.

Over the past few years, our perspective on traveling has changed a lot. Nowadays, when we travel, we like to experience the local culture rather than hitting all the tourist attractions. We want to eat like the locals, shop at their farmers market, and hang out where they would take family and friends from out of town. For those very reasons, our recent New York trip is one of my favorites to date. We only scheduled one tourist attraction per morning then tried to hit the local hang-outs for the remaining of the day.

With my love for seasonal produce, I knew that a farmers market visit was a must. A few months before our trip, I scoured the internet for farmers markets near our hotel and found quite a few. With the Union Square Greenmarket walking distance from our place, I started stalking their Instagram account to see what’s available. As luck would have it, I saw one of my favorite alliums, ramps, appearing on their feed and resolved to bring some back to California. In case you don’t know what ramps are, here’s a little tidbit as to why they’re so popular.

After the 2800 mile journey from NYC to San Diego, I was elated that the ramps made it to my kitchen without any issues. If someone had told me a year ago that we would be visiting New York in the spring and bringing home some ramps, I would have a flabbergasted look. So here we are with this culinary treasure and plenty of recipes to showcase them! Last year, when I made a ramp and hazelnut pesto, I was able to enjoy it with pizza, pasta, toast, roasted chicken, and even fish. The hazelnut was a bit more time consuming to de-skin so I decided to make a ramp and pistachio pesto this time. We went through the first batch of pesto in a few days, using it as a spread for toast to enjoy with breakfast and lunch and will make a few more batches before the season comes to an end.

 

If you like pesto, check out these recipes: wild ramp pesto pizza with asparagus and peas, ramp and hazelnut pesto, and pesto sandwich.

If you try this recipe, please let us know how you like it! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #beyondsweetandsavory on Instagram.  We truly appreciate your feedback and incorporate them to continually improve our recipes.

5 from 2 votes
Print
Ramp and pistachio pesto
Prep Time
10 mins
 

This ramp and pistachio pesto has a beautiful garlic kick and complements anything from pasta, protein, to toast.

Course: Basic
Cuisine: Pesto
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, finely ground
  • 2 oz ramp leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup olive oil and extra for top layer
  • 2 tbsps freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
  • Salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Use a pestle and mortar to pound the chopped ramps into a paste.

  2. Add the ground pistachios, olive oil, lemon juice and pound to mix together.

  3. Mix in the Parmesan cheese.

  4. Season with salt to taste.

  5. Transfer the pesto to the clean lidded glass jar. Add a thin layer of olive oil to help preserve it. Store in the coldest part of your fridge for up to a week or freeze it for up to three months. Thaw when needed.

 

Filed Under: pesto Tagged With: pistachio pesto, ramp pesto, ramps, wild garlic, wild leek

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