Saturday, April 18, 2009

What's Cooking Sunday: Shimp-Pesto Pizza

This week, Marble Man and I shook things up good and proper. Usually when we make a pizza, it's loaded with a variety of veggies, and topped with the requisite anchovy fillets. Before you all wrinkle up your faces and say ""EEwww", understand that anchovies are a Northeastern Thing. We love 'em - can't get enough of 'em.

This week, we went with something new. I found a recipe in Southern Living magazine for Shrimp-Pesto Pizza and it sounded amazing. We took it a step further and used a garlic and herb pizza dough from Trader Joe's. Wowiezowie! It was incredible. Each bite was loaded with zingie flavors, and the shrimps were tender and juicy. The original recipe called for grilling the pizza, but we popped ours into a hot oven and it came out great. So, here's the recipe for you:



Shrimp-Pesto Pizza (Southern Living Magazine, Oct 2007)
Serves 2-3

1/2 lb large raw shrimp, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 T olive oil, divided
all purpose flour
yellow cornmeal
1 lb fresh pizza dough
1/3 C refrigerated pesto
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese

Coat cold cooking grate of grill with nonstick cooking spray and place on grill. Preheat grill to 350 degrees (medium heat).

Sautee onion, bell pepper, salt, and pepper in 1 T oil in large skillet over med-high heat until tender. Transfer to a large bowl. Sautee sliced shrimp in remaining oil until they turn pink, about 3 minutes. Drain well and add shrimp to onion mixture and toss.

Lightly sprinkle flour and cornmeal onto a large baking sheet. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness on baking sheet. Slide dough from baking sheet to cooking grate. Spread pesto evenly over crust, top with shrimp mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Grill, covered with grill lid, 4 minutes. Rotate pizza one quarter turn and grill, covered, 5-6 more minutes until crust is cooked. Serve immediately.
~
This was our first time trying this recipe, and we made some small changes, which I think worked out well:

Because of the cheese in the pesto, I reduced the Parmesan topping to 1/4 cup, and it was more than adequate.

We heated our oven to 425 degrees and baked the pizza right on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. I think the next time we make it, we'll bake the crust topless for about 5 minutes to keep the pesto from making it too soggy.



I hope you'll try this!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yup, I'm def. trying this one, and when I do I will send you a message or a comment, or even a BLOG POST...it looks de-lish!!!

Unknown said...

That sounds good! :)

Gabriela said...

Hello Kate,

I always love my visits here to see your fabulous work and recipes.


Mmmmmmmmm...this one is great!


~ Gabriela ~

lori vliegen said...

oooh, the ingredients in this sound absolutely yummy! i wouldn't have even wrinkled my nose at the anchovies, either! :)

Snap said...

My mouth is watering!

Unknown said...

These looks so yummy! I am definitely drooling over it! I have been reading some of your past recipes! I have just completed my fast, and is switching my diet to pretty whole grain one - I love the quinoa pilaf and the orange flax seed muffin that you have posted. Will definitely give that a shot!

3rdEyeMuse said...

holy smokes! that looks and sounds soooooo yummy!

Cecile/DreamCreateRepeat said...

Oh lord, it made me hungry just reading it....and I just finished dinner!

Jewelry Rockstar said...

Love that herbed pizza dough from Trader Joes.

Fallen Angel Designs said...

Looks GORGEOUS, I'll have to try it!!