Grilled Vegetable Pizza with Almond Pesto

Food Service Search Staff

INGREDIENTS:3 lbs. pizza dough
1 ½ lbs. smoked provolone cheese, shredded
3 eggplants, peeled
4 zucchini
2 red onions
6 beef steak tomatoes, chopped
1 cup olive oil
1 ½ cups Blue Diamond® Sliced Natural Almonds
to taste, salt and pepper

Almond Pesto:
1 ½ cups fresh basil
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cups Parmesan cheese, grated
1 ½ cups olive oilDIRECTIONS:Preheat oven to 425°F. Slice peeled eggplant, red onions and washed zucchini lengthwise, about ¼-inch thick, then brush with 1 cup of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. For almond pesto, finely chop basil, toasted blanched almonds, garlic and Parmesan cheese in food processor. With processor running, add 1 ½ cups of olive oil in a steady stream until a thin paste is formed.

On a hot grill, grill the onions, zucchini and eggplant until just soft. Roll the pizza dough out to fit a large sheet pan dusted with cornmeal, or divide the dough in half and toss two 16-inch pizza shells.

Spread pizza shells with almond pesto and arrange the sliced onions, eggplant and zucchini equally across the surface. Brush the vegetables with almond pesto and top with shredded provolone cheese. Top pizza with chopped tomatoes. Bake pizza(s) 15 to 20 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is melted, topping with natural sliced almonds during final 8 minutes.SERVINGS:24 servingsPHOTO CREDIT:Photo Credit: Photo Credit: BLUE DIAMOND GROWERS