• Zippylip Inspired Blackstone Pizza Goodness: Homemade Pistachio Pesto, Fresh Mozzarella and Mortadella Pizza

[Moose]

Last Sunday, Zippylip posted a really cool pizza thread with a kind of pie I've never seen, but sure wanted to try: Homemade Pistachio Pesto with Fresh Mozzarella and Mortadella. You can read more about it HERE.

It looked so delicious, I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I just had to make one for myself!

Here's the homemade pistachio pesto goodness, made with fresh basil from our garden:

All of the players lined up for assembly:

Dough all stretched out and ready to top:

I haven’t made homemade pizza dough in quite some time, as I’ve been using what I have found to be the holy grail of store bought pizza dough, which is made by Primo Taglio. AMAZING stuff!

Spread the dough with the pesto:

Added the fresh mozzarella, and a drizzle of olive oil:

And finally, the mortadella:

Meanwhile, the Blackstone had been fired up, and was approaching my usual target stone temp of 680 degrees:

And finally, the end result(please note - I do NOT cook the pie on the screen. It's merely a resting and cooling surface for a molten hot pizza):

Closer:

The pizza was fantastic! There are two things I would do differently next time:

1. Like Zippylip, I would have preferred thick chunks or slices of the mortadella, as the thin slices got lost a bit taste-wise against the intense flavors of the pistachio pesto.

2. I won’t drizzle olive oil on the pie, as the pesto already had plenty of it.

Nonetheless, it was delicious, and we’ll be doing this again very soon. Thanks to Zippy for the inspiration for this pie!

 

[Roguejim]

Your dough is, initially, resting on a Pizzacraft mat. When you add the pesto, the dough is off the mat, and resting on something else. Explain to this newbie, please? Thanks.

 

[jsperk]

Great looking pizza. What is the weight of the dough you used for that one?

 

[Moose]

Your dough is, initially, resting on a Pizzacraft mat. When you add the pesto, the dough is off the mat, and resting on something else. Explain to this newbie, please? Thanks.

It's resting on a Super Peel. I made the pie on the Super Peel, which is the best pizza launching device I've found to date.

I'm planning to do a bit of a write up on this very soon. In the meantime, you can read more about it HERE.

 

[Moose]

Great looking pizza. What is the weight of the dough you used for that one?

The bag says the net weight is 16oz.

 

[ShadowDriver]

Moose, that's a thing of beauty!

I need to go back and research Zippy's pesto recipe, as that looks delicious!

Great pie, man.

 

[ssv3]

Looks insane!! I'm with you on Zippylip's pizza Richard. On my list.

 

[Titch]

Looks tasty and simple,love basic,flavor packed pizza.

 

[mattmountz94]

That is a great looking pie! Crunchier the better

 

[Melissaredhead]

I'm headed over!
Keep em comin!

 

[Zippylip]

Moose, this thing looks amazing, you got much better color on yours. And yea, chunks work great. Next time I'm downtown Philly I'm picking up a brick of it & making a few of these.

Regarding the screen, best invention ever right? I pull all pies with tongs directly to the screen then rest it ontop of usually the chimney to allow the bottom to retain its texture

 

[Zippylip]

Moose, that's a thing of beauty!

I need to go back and research Zippy's pesto recipe, as that looks delicious!

Great pie, man.

ShadowDriver, pesto is really simple, I make it all the time but never with the genuine nut ingredient (pine), most often with walnuts. Don't worry about measuring anything just throw this stuff in a food processor. This is from a prior pesto pizza post, the full link is below:

fresh basil, walnuts, garlic, olive oil, locatelli (Romano cheese), salt & pepper:

All spun together, added to the mozzarella & mixed:

After about 7 minutes on the egg @650:

this is the same pie but with hot peppers added

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93897

 

[Dweverett]

It's resting on a Super Peel. I made the pie on the Super Peel, which is the best pizza launching device I've found to date.

I'm planning to do a bit of a write up on this very soon. In the meantime, you can read more about it HERE.

I just commented in a different thread yesterday that I didn't think one of these would work with a blackstone. Surprised you have enough room for your hand

 

[Big George's BBQ]

that looks fantastic Moose I have got to get back to making my own pies again

 

[Moose]

I just commented in a different thread yesterday that I didn't think one of these would work with a blackstone. Surprised you have enough room for your hand

It took a bit of practice for me to get the pies neatly centered on the Blackstone using the Super Peel. First and foremost, the pizza MUST be centered on the Super Peel, otherwise you could have problems, especially if you have the XL Super Peel and your pie is pushing 16 inches. 14 inches seems to be the upper end on what you can comfortably get on the Blackstone using the Super Peel.

Second, you need to turn the heat on the burner all the way down when you launch the pie, otherwise the fabric on the Super Peel will burn.

Last, the Super Peel has to be positioned all the way back in the Blackstone before you launch the pie, and the edge of the pie should be very close to the edge of the peel. That way you'll have the stone space you'll need.

All in all, the Super Peel has been a game changer for me as the pie is in exactly the same shape it was when I made it as when it gets on the stone, plus the toppings don't move, either. This is especially handy with pies that are heavy on sauce, cheese, and toppings. There's no way you can get toppings to stay put on a pie like that using a regular peel.

 

[Norm]

Nice pie Moose!

Thanks for the review on the Super Peel, do you use the one with the handle or just the belt on your own peel?

 

[Moose]

Nice pie Moose!

Thanks for the review on the Super Peel, do you use the one with the handle or just the belt on your own peel?

All the Super Peels come with their own peel - the standalone fabric belt assembly won't fit any regular peel. I bought the XL model:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/EXO-BIG-16-Aluminum-Cherry/dp/B00QFLDR6W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1462121429&sr=8-3&keywords=Super+peel"]Amazon.com: EXO "BIG 16" - 16" Super Peel Pizza Peel with Aluminum Blade and Black Cherry Handle: Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31STW-yd9kL.@@AMEPARAM@@31STW-yd9kL[/ame]

 

[Norm]

Thanks Moose!

I kind of thought so but wanted to be sure before I bought one.

 

[Dweverett]

It took a bit of practice for me to get the pies neatly centered on the Blackstone using the Super Peel. First and foremost, the pizza MUST be centered on the Super Peel, otherwise you could have problems, especially if you have the XL Super Peel and your pie is pushing 16 inches. 14 inches seems to be the upper end on what you can comfortably get on the Blackstone using the Super Peel.

Second, you need to turn the heat on the burner all the way down when you launch the pie, otherwise the fabric on the Super Peel will burn.

Last, the Super Peel has to be positioned all the way back in the Blackstone before you launch the pie, and the edge of the pie should be very close to the edge of the peel. That way you'll have the stone space you'll need.

All in all, the Super Peel has been a game changer for me as the pie is in exactly the same shape it was when I made it as when it gets on the stone, plus the toppings don't move, either. This is especially handy with pies that are heavy on sauce, cheese, and toppings. There's no way you can get toppings to stay put on a pie like that using a regular peel.

Thanks. Think I'll order one.

 

[Moose]

Moose, this thing looks amazing, you got much better color on yours. And yea, chunks work great. Next time I'm downtown Philly I'm picking up a brick of it & making a few of these.

Regarding the screen, best invention ever right? I pull all pies with tongs directly to the screen then rest it ontop of usually the chimney to allow the bottom to retain its texture

Thanks! Yes, the pizza screen is awesome to put the cooked pie on. I did try cooking a pie on the Blackstone using a screen just for the heck of it, will NEVER do it again! :laugh: