Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez, Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Love pizza but in the mood for something a little bit lighter? You’ll love this fresh flatbread topped with a sweet pea-herb pesto and fresh mozzarella cheese. The recipe calls for refrigerated thin-crust pizza dough, which you press into a rectangle on a baking sheet. The dough is baked until lightly browned and crisp, then you add the toppings. Instead of the usual marinara sauce, this thin-crust flatbread is topped with a homemade pesto made with peas, olive oil, garlic, basil, and parsley. Peas give the pesto a slightly sweet flavor that works well with the fresh herbs and creamy, spreadable texture. The flatbread is also topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, which you can tear into small pieces or shred using the large holes of a box grater. Fresh mozzarella has the best flavor, but to save time, look for a pre-shredded mozzarella.
The flatbread goes in the oven under the broiler, making a deliciously bubbling layer of cheese. Crumbled bacon (you can omit it to make this flatbread vegetarian) and thinly sliced basil is the perfect topper. This flatbread makes a great lunch or you could serve it with your favorite salad for a tasty but light dinner.
How to Make It
Step 1
Preheat oven to 425°F. Press pizza dough into a 15- x 11-inch rectangle on a lightly greased (with cooking spray) rimmed baking sheet.
Step 2
Bake on lower rack in preheated oven until lightly browned and crisp, about 12 minutes. Increase oven temperature to broil with oven rack 3 inches from heat.
Step 3
Pulse 1 cup basil, peas, parsley, oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt in a food processor until smooth, about 5 times. Spread pesto over crust, and top evenly with mozzarella.
Step 4
Broil the flatbread until cheese is melted, about 2 minutes. Top evenly with cooked crumbled bacon and 2 tablespoons basil leaves. Slice the flatbread into pieces, and serve immediately.
Chef's Notes
There are so many ways to cook fresh or frozen sweet peas, but their creamy texture makes them an excellent addition to pesto. Swap out some or all of the basil for other tender fresh herbs like tarragon, mint, and parsley—peas complement them all.
