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CILANTRO PESTO PIZZA WITH ROASTED TOMATOES, CORN & BURRATA.

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Ingredients
  

pizza dough (or buy 16 oz. pre-made pizza dough)

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour plus more as needed
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt plus extra for sprinkling
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

cilantro pesto

  • 4 cups lightly packed cilantro about 2 big bunches
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • ½ cup pine nuts
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt

roasted tomatoes

  • 4 cups cherry tomatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt
  • couple handfuls cilantro leaves

pizza

  • 16 ounces pizza dough (store-bought or using the recipe above, enough for 1 large or 2 smaller pizzas)
  • 1 cup grated parmesan
  • 1 ear fresh corn
  • 8 ounces burrata
  • flaky sea salt to taste
  • chili flakes to taste
  • truffle oil optional, to taste

Instructions
 

  • At least two hours ahead, start the pizza dough (if making at home).
  • In a large bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and olive oil and work the dough until the mixture comes together as a ball, a bit tacky to the touch. Add more water as needed, or more flour if it’s too wet. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead to create a smooth ball of dough.
  • Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean, damp dish towel. Place in a warm location, or, if your kitchen is very cold, inside your oven. Let rest until it doubles in size, 1-2 hours. Once doubled in size, divide dough into as many pizzas as you anticipate making, and roll each into a ball. Place on floured surface, sprinkle with flour, and cover with a dish towel for about 30 minutes before using.

Make the cilantro pesto.

  • Place all ingredients for pesto in a small food processor or blender and process until the ingredients are almost homogenized but some light texture remains. Set aside.

Make the roasted tomatoes.

  • Preheat oven to 500º and remove pizza dough from fridge, if pre-made. Rinse cherry tomatoes, and place in a 12" cast iron skillet with garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, a couple handfuls of cilantro, and ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt. Use a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to lightly toss the cherry tomatoes in oil and herbs. Bake for 7 minutes, until the tomato skins start to blister. Then turn the broiler on low and place the skillet on a rack just below the flame. Allow to broil for 3 minutes, until the skins just start to brown in places. Remove from oven, but return oven to 500º.

Assemble the pizza.

  • Line one or two baking sheets (depending on whether you’re making one large or two smaller pizzawith parchment paper.
  • Shuck the ear of corn and trim corn kernels from cob. Set aside.
  • Stretch out the pizza dough into one large or two smaller pizzas. I have no exact science for this, and prefer not to be too pretentious about the process—I use both hands to stretch the dough, letting it hang from my fists in between stretches. Stretch as evenly as possible to ensure a crisper pizza base.
  • If you’re making two smaller pizzas, divide all ingredients in half and repeat the following process for both pizzas. If you’re making one, everything goes on this big guy!
  • Sprinkle half the parmesan on the base of the pizza and distribute roasted tomatoes and corn over the top. Drizzle oil from roasted tomatoes across the pizza. Spoon cilantro pesto over the pizza, hitting empty pockets where there aren’t tomatoes or corn. Overlap is, of course, fine. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese.
  • Bake for 8 minutes, then remove from oven and distribute burrata cheese around pizza, a tablespoon or so at a time. Finish with a sprinkle of red chili flakes and flaky sea salt. Return to the oven (if you’re making two pizzas, at this point you should swap oven placement of the trayand bake another 4-6 minutes, checking for crust color as you go. When crust is as dark as you like it, remove from oven, drizzle with truffle oil if desired, and eat immediately.