Meat-Free Friday: Shrimp Scampi Pizza

Trust me when I say that this pizza taste way better than it looks.

I recently received some samples of all-natural whole in the wall pesto to try out. This stuff is AMAZING!! It comes in all sorts of neat flavors, and I look forward to trying them all, but the one that immediately caught my eye was “garlic spike.” Garlic spike is a seasonal flavor made from garlic scapes. I could tell when I took the cover off that this was going to be delicious- the smell was divine. Then I looked at it – there are whole pine nuts and the olive oil was a beautiful color so you could tell it was good quality.

I immediately knew that I wanted to pair this with shrimp, and I wanted to keep the flavors simple to let let the pesto shine. I didn’t feel like pasta (although that would have been great!) so I went with a pizza. This pizza was absolutely indulgent. It was incredibly delicious, but also super rich – two small slices was plenty for me.

I did run into one small problem in making this – I rolled my crust pretty thin, and the oil from the pesto soaked through the middle and turned it to mush. It was delicious, but it needed to be eaten with a fork and knife and it was a little hard to get it off the pan. Next time, I think I would keep the crust a little thicker and maybe bake it dry first, then put the toppings on and heat it just enough to melt the cheese. Of course, if you do it that way you’ll need to pre-cook your shrimp. Either way, this tastes delicious.

Shrimp Scampi Pizza

• 2 Tbs cornmeal
• 1 pizza dough of your choice
• 5.5 oz whole in the wall garlic spike pesto
• 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, shredded
• 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 plum tomato, roughly chopped
• 1 small handful shredded romano
• about 5 large basil leaves, chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Spray cookie sheet or pizza stone with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Shape dough on pan. Spread dough with pesto, then top with mozzarella, shrimp, and tomato. Sprinkle romano and basil over the top. Bake 15 minutes, or until crust browns and shrimp is cooked through. Cut into 9 slices.

****

Whole in the Wall also has a natural foods restaurant in Binghampton, NY that looks fantastic! If I ever find myself in that area I’ll be sure to check it out! You should too! If this pesto was any indication, the food will be well worth it. You can also purchase the pesto on their website or locally at Eats Market or Honest Weight Co-op. I look forward to playing with the other flavors.