Pesto Seafood Pizza

At first, we just thought of making a nice pesto with some fresh basil we had picked up…
Our friends had us over and as you have hopefully read, they brought down some fresh seafood and some fresh ideas. We made a Vietnamese inspired Banh Mi Pork Pizza and then moved on to use the freshly caught (or dug up) Coos Bay Empire Clams on a White Clam Pizza. Both of these were delicious and I’d say the Bahn Mi Pizza was more like inspiring. We weren’t done yet. Knowing we had a good supply of clams, we planned on doing a couple of pizzas with the clams as well as a pasta dish for the evening.

Saute up some shrimp in a little olive oil and garlic, but stop cooking before they are all of the way done. They will finish on the pizza in the oven.
Pesto Seafood Pizza

Spread the pesto with sun dried tomatoes on the pizza dough…
– Fresh made Pesto *Link to Peter’s Pesto Recipe
– Sun Dried Tomatoes
– A small pile of Coos Bay Empire Clams — if you can get them *See Note below
– Fresh Jumbo Shrimp
– Fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
– Thick grated Parmigiano-Regianno
– Thick sliced tomatoes
– Chopped Garlic
*Note from “American Pie” about selecting clams for this pizza:

I added a little thick graded Parmigiano Reggiano and some of the raw clams.
We were using these larger clams for this recipe, which had to be chopped. They were hand picked, shucked and frozen by Loan and her family and brought down to us for this feast. I did notice that some of the meat was tough, as Peter mentioned, but how do you not use the hand dug clams that came packed with passion and the sole purpose of becoming part of our meal? I continue to reap the benefits of Loan’s generosity as she brings and even ships down fresh seafood that they caught up there. One day, we’ll make the trip to visit them and join in on a crabbing trip, or clam dig on the beautiful beaches there.
As I mentioned, I have also used the canned baby clams for my pizzas and they always comes out perfect.
Some things to Prep:

Bake the pizza for a few minutes (3-4) to set it up and allow you to control how much time the shrimp are in the oven.
Saute the Shrimp in a hot skillet:
– Add a little olive oil to a hot skillet
– Add some chopped garlic and sauté until translucent
– We threw in some left over basil leaves since they were there from making the pesto
– Toss in the shrimp and season with a little salt/pepper
*Saute until almost cooked to allow the shrimp to finish cooking on the pizza. I cooked this pizza in two stages. I placed the shrimp on at the second stage placing it in the oven to finish for about 3 minutes.
The build:

Place the cooked shrimp on the pizza and top with sliced tomatoes and a little more cheese.
Lay your dough out on the pizza peel.
Spread the Pesto with Sundried Tomatoes across the dough.
Add a little thick grated parmesan cheese and a few raw clams.
Toss the pizza in the oven for a few minutes. The shrimp have been mostly cooked, so you don’t want to over cook them. Allow the pizza to bake for about 4 Minutes and check it.

Keep an eye on this so you don’t overcook the shrimp. You just want to get the tomatoes to soften up and become moist and juicy.
Place it back in the oven to finish cooking (about another 3-5 minutes depending on your oven).
Remove from the oven and squeeze a little fresh lemon over the pizza cut and serve.
Delicious!
The pesto sets a nice base tone for the seafood to shine. The addition of the sun dried tomatoes adds an intense burst of flavor while the thick sliced tomatoes are a nice juicy addition to the medley. This is a totally

Pesto with sun dried tomatoes, clams, sauteed shrimp, sliced tomatoes, a little Parmigiano…there’s a lot of goodness going on here on a nice warm crusty dough!
Another way to go with this same pizza, would be to make it “Al Diavlo”! I almost can’t believe we didn’t do this! Next time. *If you’re ever in Vegas, check out John Arena’s Seafood Al Diavlo Pie at Metro Pizza. I’ll have to get his recipe and try that one here sometime soon.
Enjoy!
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Ahhh, seafood. My absolute favorite food, next to spaghetti, is shrimp. This article reminded me of a biker show in the spring of this year that my husband and I sold our pizza at. In the evening, when the public left and the vendors were hanging around the fire getting hungry,they ordered a couple thin crust, white pizzas with shrimp on them, our first time putting shrimp on our pizza. I delivered them around 1am and sat with them at the fire eating one of the slices offered to me (loved it). Our white pizzas always have olive oil and chopped garlic with Italian seasoning and thinly sliced tomatoes on top. The owner of the venue said, “I want to throw it up so I can eat it all over again”! Gross, yes. But it was that good. The next rally is next weekend. I’m shopping for shrimp. And maybe some pesto???
Misty,
That’s great! Send me some photos of your pizzas and the rally – maybe a story? I’ll publish your Shrimp “Rally” pizza for our viewers!
Good luck!
Email me at: brad@pizzaquest.com
Brad
The cook times for a wood-fired oven would differ some. How has this worked out for those that have used a wood-fired oven?
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’m anxious to make it.
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