Author Notes
This is a surprising pizza. The avocado bakes into the bread in all it's creamy glory. The rich oily/avocado base is balanced by the bitter/sweet topping of an arugula, lime, & basil salad. A green pizza that you have to try. If you are tempted to add cheese... you really shouldn't. Let the avocado shine through like it should. —Kelly
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Ingredients
- Peter Reinhart's Neo-neopolitan Pizza dough (very slightly adapted)
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2 cups plus 2 tb
Unbleached bread flour (all purp works too)
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1 teaspoon
Sea salt
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1/2 tablespoon
Honey
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3/4 teaspoon
Active dry yeast
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1 cup plus 1 tb
Warm water (around 100 degrees F, not higher than 110)
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1 tablespoon
Olive Oil
- Avocado base & topping
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2
Avocados
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4
Garlic cloves, peeled
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6tb
Extra virgin olive oil
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3 handfuls
Fresh arugula. Big handfuls
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1 handful
Fresh basil, chopped
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1/4
Medium/small red onion, slivered
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2
Limes
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Salt & pepper - to taste
Directions
- Peter Reinhart's Neo-neopolitan Pizza dough (very slightly adapted)
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Combine the warm water, honey, and yeast in a small bowl. Whisk until dissolved & let it sit aside for 5 - 10 minutes until it starts to bubble/foam. Then combine your yeast mixture, flour, & salt into a mixer & mix on low speed for 1 minute with a dough hook. (or mix by hand with a wooden spoon). Then let the dough rest for 5 minutes. This step lets the dough fully hydrate.
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Change your mixer speed to medium-low for 2 -3 minutes (or continue mixing by hand). The bread is done when it feels somewhere between tacky & sticky. It should still be really easy to work with. If you feel it is too wet add another TB of flour. If you feel it is to dry, add another TB of water. Turn the dough out onto an oiled sheet pan & divide into two pieces. Form these two pieces into rounds & place equal distance a part on the sheet pan. Cover the top with plastic wrap & place in your fridge overnight.
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1.5 hours ahead of pizza baking time, remove the pizza from the fridge so it has time to warm up & proof in room temperature before baking. Now move onto pizza baking step.
- Avocado base & topping
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After letting the pizza dough ferment in the fridge overnight, take the dough out of the fridge 1.5 hours prior to baking to let it warm up to room temp.
Place a baking stone in the oven & preheat it to 500 degrees. If you do not have a baking stone then get out a large baking sheet & lightly oil it, but still preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
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In a small blender such as a smoothie blender or small food processor, combine the avocado meats, 5TB oil, garlic cloves, juice of one lime, and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth. It should be spreadable but still thick. The thickness will depend on the ripeness of your avocados. If you think it is just too thick, thin it out with a tiny bit of water. Set this aside.
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In a large bowl toss together your arugula, basil, and red onion. Whisk together the lime juice of your other lime and last TB of olive oil. Toss this together with the arugula mixture and lightly season with salt & fresh ground pepper. Use your hands to toss this mixture together (slightly massaging the greens). Set this aside until later.
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Roll out one of the pizza dough rounds on a floured surface and if you are baking using the baking sheet, place on the oiled baking sheet. Top the pizza with half of the avocado mixture & spread evenly with a spoon. Then transfer it into the oven & bake for about 15 -20 minutes (until it is cooked & the crust starts to golden).
If you are baking on a pizza stone then open your oven & use a glove to pull out the rack the baking stone is on. Drop on the pizza crust, quickly top with half of the avocado mixture (spreading with a spoon), and close the oven. It will be done in about 10 minutes or less (until it is cooked & starting to golden in spots).
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Once the pizza is cooked, remove from oven either with a metal spatula or with mittens & place on a cutting board. Top with half of the arugula mixture, slice, & enjoy!
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Repeat process with second pizza dough.
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