So here’s a fun fact about my childhood: I almost lost my mother to pizza dough.  No seriously.  Mama got it in her head that she wanted to make pizza from scratch.  Now whether or not the dough was exactly made from scratch or bought, I don’t know because I didn’t enter the madness kitchen until it was time to roll-out said dough.  No matter how hard she pressed, rolled, and cursed (at both the dough and my father…we were never sure why the last one) that dough would slowly resume it’s original mound form, mocking my mother the whole time.  Finally, having had enough, she hurled one last epithet, grabbed her keys, said she was done, and drove away.  Never to be seen or heard from again.  Until she came back.  I don’t remember what happened or what we ended up eating that night, but I can guarantee you, no one made eye contact or spoke above a mumble that night for fear of angering the beast her.

To this day, that is the scenario that has always prevented me from attempting the same insurmountable feat.  I mean if my mom can’t do it, epicurean master that she is (thanks Katherine for that phrase!), how could I, a mere padawan learner, ever achieve such a thing?  That is, until I found out that Publix sells ready-made pizza dough and had several friends vouch for it’s ability to be rolled.  Added benefit: I get to use my  cute rolling pin!  It did take some elbow grease but I got the pizza dough to do what I wanted it to do (well, for the most part).  I do think next time I’ll probably cut the dough in half and make two smaller pizzas so I can make the outer crust thinner.  For the pizza sauce, I decided to have some fun by mixing the typical tomato pizza sauce with the walnut pesto I make with this recipe.  Yowzas, what a combo!  I used a pizza stone to cook the pizza in the oven (they also work on the grill) to help keep my crust from burning or from falling through the grates of the oven.  You can find a pizza stone just about any where that kitchen items are sold (this is where I got mine).  Definitely an item worth investing in.

Pesto Pizza Margherita

Ingredients:
Pizza Dough
28oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. dried oregano
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup walnut pesto
Mozzerella, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
Basil leaves for garnish

Directions:
1.  Let Pizza dough sit out for one hour before handling; preheat oven to 400 degrees
2.  Meanwhile, whisk together the tomatoes, lemon juice, oregano, and garlic until just combined; add the walnut pesto and stir to incorporate
3.  Flour hands and flat surface (either counter-top or greased pizza stone); place pizza dough on flat surface and either use your hands to press dough out into a flat circular-shape for a thicker crust, or use a rolling pin to flatten dough out to desired thickness for a thinner crust (I prefer thin)
4.  Using a ladle, scoop out several ladles of pizza sauce and spread around the inside of the dough using the bowl of the ladle
5.  Place mozzerella slices all around the pizza over the sauce until completely covered; place basil leaves (or any other toppings) on top of mozzerella, wherever desired
6.  Bake pizza at for approximately 18-25 minutes depending on the thickness of your crust
7.  Remove pizza from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing