Delicious Caprese Pesto Pizza with a homemade pizza crust made with White Lily Flour! So good and so easy to make!
We’re big pizza eaters at my house. Pizza is one thing that I know my family will eat all the time. My husband could eat pizza every day of the week and be happy. Meat, cheese and tomato sauce on delicious pizza dough and he’s set!
I know it’s so easy to just order a pizza but we love mixing it up and making homemade pizza too. The kids help . . they literally help me roll out the pizza dough and they make their own pizzas! They love helping make dinner and because they made the pizza themselves, they are sure to say how delicious it is and they eat it all!
The other night, we made homemade pepperoni pizza and Madeline, my youngest, asked me if the dough was homemade. I’m thinking ok . . she’s six years old and asking me if this is homemade pizza dough. She is my daughter. I am a food blogger after all.
So, a no fail homemade pizza dough was in order!
And I wanted to make a pizza dough recipe that used all purpose flour because that’s what most people have at home. Some recipes you will see online use bread flour, or all purpose flour + ground yellow cornmeal . . they are all good but today, again, I wanted to show you how to make a pizza dough with ingredients you probably already have at home.
Now, I will say this. Not all all-purpose flours are equal. Use a great quality product and you’ll get a great and delicious result. Today, I used my go-to White Lily baking flour. It’s great for cakes, cookies, pie crusts, pancakes, brownies, muffins, scones, and pizza dough! You can basically use it for almost everything!
For this recipe, I combined my White Lily all-purpose flour with 1 teaspoon of salt and, poured my warm water and active dry yeast mixture into the center. You don’t really need anything fancy, but you will need a fork, a rolling pin, a flat surface and some more flour for dusting.
Simply mix the ingredients together using a fork, stirring in a circular motion, gradually pull the flour into the yeast mixture. You’ll continue stirring until a dough forms.
Then, remove the dough mixture from your bowl and onto a lightly floured work surface and using the heel of your hand, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, for about 10 minutes. Then, you’ll form the dough into a ball.
Now, here comes to hard part. The waiting. And keeping your fingers crossed that your dough will double in size.
Brush a large bowl with the olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size, for about 1 to 2 hours. I always like to keep my bowl in a warm place, like next to the oven.
Now, on to the pizza!
If you know me, you know that I love pesto. It’s not only delicious but a great way to serve greens to your family and to also use up greens if you have some that are about to go bad. Basil, spinach, roasted asparagus, arugula, these are all great options for pesto!
Today, I used spinach and arugula for my pesto. If you’ve never tried pesto on pizza, you simply must! It’s so flavorful and delicious!
And because I came across some beautiful tomatoes, this Caprese Pesto Pizza was born!
I had to add some balsamic glaze!
This recipe is pretty straightforward and easy. I hope you guys give it a try and make this pizza!
Caprese Pesto Pizza
Ingredients
For the pizza dough:
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
- 2 3/4 cups White Lily all-purpose flour plus more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
For the pizza:
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup homemade spinach pesto see link above
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 3 to 4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
- assortment of red and yellow tomato slices
- fresh basil leaves
- balsamic glaze
- Special equipment: a pizza stone or pizza pan
Instructions
For the pizza dough:
- In a small bowl or measuring cup with spout, dissolve the active dry yeast in the lukewarm water and let stand (do not mix) until slightly foamy, for about 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, stir together the 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour and the salt and form into a mound. Make a well in the center and slowly pour the yeast mixture to the well. Using a fork and stirring in a circular motion, gradually pull the flour into the yeast mixture. Continue stirring until a dough forms.
- Lightly flour a work surface with some flour and transfer the dough to it. Using the heel of your hand, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, for about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, or round shape.
- Brush a large bowl with the olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, for 1 to 2 hours. I like to keep my dough in a warm place.
- When ready, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Punch down the dough and, using your hand, begin to press it out gently into the desired shape. Place one hand in the center of the dough and, with the other hand, pull, lift and stretch the dough, gradually working your way all around the edge, until it is the desired thickness, about 1/4 inch thick for a crusty pizza base and 1/2 inch thick for a softer one. Flip the dough over from time to time as your work with it, or roll out the dough using a rolling pin. The dough should be slightly thinner in the middle than at the edges.
- Using your rolling pin, transfer the pizza dough to a pizza stone, pizza pan or baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise again until almost doubled in size, about 20 minutes. Now, your pizza dough is ready to go!
For the pizza:
- While your pizza dough is rising (for the second time), preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Brush on the olive oil (you can just use a 1/2 tablespoon if preferred), all over the pizza dough and then spread on your pesto, leaving an inch or two (depending on how much crust you like!) around the edges. Brush the exposed pizza edges with the melted butter. This is how I get my pizza crust edges nicely browned.
- Top your pizza with the fresh mozzarella cheese and tomato slices, arranging in whatever pattern you like. Do NOT pile on too much! Keep the toppings light to ensure the pizza crust bakes thoroughly. Also, the tomatoes will release some water so you don't want to pile on too much.
- Bake in the hot oven for about 23-25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and cooked thoroughly. When finished baking, remove from the oven, let cool for a minute or two and then (if desired) lightly drizzle on a little olive oil (or avocado oil, see my note above), drizzle with balsamic glaze and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Slice and enjoy immediately!
Pizza dough recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma.
Disclosure: This is a paid, sponsored post in partnership with White Lily Flour. All opinions expressed here are 100% my own.
