Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Pizza and Top Gun

Hello and welcome to Pizza and a Movie! For today’s pizza we are using up the last of the sun dried tomato pesto we made for our pasta dish yesterday. We are also adding sautéd asparagus, mozzarella, and finishing it off with burrata and fresh basil. This is an amazing combination, super flavorful sun dried tomato pesto is a perfect match for creamy burrata! Let’s get to it!

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with a pizza stone or steel. While we’re waiting on that, let’s let our store bought pizza dough and burrata come to room temperature. We can also sauté the asparagus. Over medium heat, sauté about half a bunch of asparagus in a drizzle of olive oil. Season with kosher salt and black pepper. Sauté the asparagus pieces just until they turn a brighter shade of green, then cut the heat and let them cool off in the pan.

Build the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Pizza

Once the oven is up to temp and the asparagus is ready, we can build the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Pizza.

Roll, spin or stretch your pizza dough out to about 12-inches round. Begin with a light layer of grated mozzarella cheese. Then dollop on the sun dried tomato pesto evenly over the cheese. Use about a 1/2 cup total.

Follow the sun dried tomato pesto with the asparagus.

Top the asparagus with more mozzarella cheese and we are ready for the oven.

Bake the pizza for about 15 minutes, until the crust is puffed and golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

When the pizza comes out of the oven, break up a ball of burrata onto the pizza; placing the burrata pieces evenly over the top of the pizza.

Top the burrata with a drizzle of olive oil and black pepper; and then place fresh basil leaves over the top.

I really love this pizza! The sun dried tomato pesto has a super concentrated tomato flavor; it’s bright, sweet and tangy. The punchy flavor goes perfectly with the mellow, creamy burrata. The sautéd asparagus adds a nice texture difference.

Movie Night: Top Gun: Maverick

We have our Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Pizza ready, so let’s get to the movie! Top Gun: Maverick is out in theaters, only 36 years after the first film premiered in 1986. Is this the longest time between a sequel and its first film? It’s definitely up there – and I will say it was worth the wait, if anyone was waiting for this movie to come out. I wasn’t necessarily, but this movie was incredibly enjoyable.

I remember seeing the first one in the theater when it came out. This time around I was really impressed with the balance the writers struck with bringing in elements of the first movie and being original with this continuation of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s story. Another aspect of this film that is quite amazing, is that the actors are actually flying these jets. All of the main pilot cast went through pilot training to fly the fighter jets. Talk about dedication to your craft! The filming included mounting cameras inside and outside of the jets, bringing the audience along on incredible arial storytelling. Definitely go see this movie, it’s a great time and a perfect summer blockbuster to welcome us back to the theaters.

Thank you so much for stopping by today for Pizza and a Movie! Have a wonderful weekend, take care and be well. xo Kelly

Key Equipment

Print Recipe

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Pizza

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Loading...

Dinner, Main Course – American/Italian

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 20 Minutes – Cooking Time: 15 Minutes – Total Time: ~30 Minutes

Sun dried tomato pesto has a concentrated tomato flavor; it's bright, sweet and tangy. The punchy flavor goes perfectly with creamy burrata.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Bunch Asparagus, cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces
• Olive Oil, plus more for drizzling on pizza
• Kosher Salt
• Black Pepper, plus more for finishing pizza
• 1 Prepared Pizza Dough
• 1 cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
• 1 Ball of Burrata
• Fresh Basil Leaves

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with a pizza stone or steel.

2

Let the pizza dough and burrata come to room temperature.

Sautéd Asparagus

3

Over medium heat, sauté asparagus in a drizzle of olive oil. Season with kosher salt and black pepper. Sauté the asparagus pieces just until they turn a brighter shade of green, then cut the heat and let them cool off in the pan.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Pizza

4

Roll, spin or stretch your pizza dough out to about 12-inches round. Begin with a light layer of grated mozzarella cheese. Then dollop on the sun dried tomato pesto evenly over the cheese.

5

Follow the sun dried tomato pesto with the sautéd asparagus.

6

Top the asparagus with more mozzarella cheese and we are ready for the oven.

7

Bake the pizza for about 15 minutes, until the crust is puffed and golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

8

When the pizza comes out of the oven, break up a ball of burrata onto the pizza; placing the burrata pieces evenly over the top of the pizza.

9

Top the burrata with a drizzle of olive oil and black pepper; and then place fresh basil leaves over the top.

This post may contain affiliate links; when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission on qualifying items.