Pizza with Shrimp and Pesto is totally the Besto!
What? I totally speak Spanish. I’m serious! haha Sorry, I’m just in a cheeky mood(not *those* cheeks), I guess–must be the heat. LOL This recipe has a bit of a history….WAY (Ok, maybe not WAY…just *way*) back when, I lived in Minneapolis, right near Loring Park and the Walker Art Museum…I loved my neighborhood. I loved that it was close to Uptown, and close to Downtown…and one of the restaurants I used to *Really* love was the Green Mill Too on Hennepin Avenue in Uptown. I swear, you have not lived until you’ve tried their pizza, or had drinks at the Oyster Bar! :D If you are interested in their story, you can find more info here: The Green Mill Too. Anyway, back to the food! One of my absolute favorite things to order was their extremely deep dish shrimp and pesto pizza…SO freaking good. I mean, even better than SO freaking good! So, I had to start making my own here, since the last time I checked, we still don’t have a Green Mill ’round these parts. Sigh. Maybe one day.
My version doesn’t have the extreme deep dish crust, but I think you’ll find that it’s darned good anyway. 
Ingredients:
1 pizza crust (use you favorite recipe, adding garlic powder, basil and oregano to the dough, and be sure to sprinkle your pan with cornmeal before placing tossed crust onto it)
1 cup (more or less according to taste) pizza sauce (stir all ingredients and allow to meld for 2-3 hours):
-4 ounces (100 grams) tomato paste
-1 cup water (more for a thinner sauce)
-1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
-garlic powder to taste
-dehydrated onion to taste
-salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
-1 tablespoon oregano
-1 tablespoon basil
-1 teaspoon fennel
2/3 cup pesto sauce (process everything in a food processor until fairly uniform):
-4 cloves garlic
-1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (to toast pine nuts, just toss them in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and aromatic)
-1 large bunch basil (by large, I mean about 2 cups leaves), stemmed
-1 large bunch parsley, stemmed
-1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
-salt and cracked black pepper to taste
-extra virgin olive oil to taste
1-2 cups grated mozzarella cheese to taste
1 pound shrimp, cleaned and deveined, brushed with olive oil
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 500ºF (260ºC).
Par-bake pizza crust for 5-7 minutes.
Spread sauce over crust.
Sprinkle pesto over sauce.
Sprinkle grated cheese over this.
Now arrange the shrimp.
Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until shrimp are cooked through.
As Rachel Ray says “Yummo”.Shrimp on pizza is definitely the “besto”!!!
Comment by Valli — July 31, 2007 @ 7:17 pm
Wow! That’s taking pizza to a whole new level of perfection! It looks incredibly good.
Comment by Belinda — August 1, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
You know, I’ve never had pizza with shrimp. Must rememdy that soon!
Comment by s'kat — August 2, 2007 @ 1:52 pm
The best pizza we ever made at home had garlic shrimp and scallops on it–I adore shrimp on pizza! Gotta try it with the pesto, too, next time. Looks amazing Nikki!
Comment by Lee Ann — August 2, 2007 @ 4:50 pm
Yum world and I have all the ingredients!
Comment by Peter — August 3, 2007 @ 4:36 pm
I don’t know if I’ll ever make any of your recipes, but I LOVE to come look at the fabulous photos and drool… Thanks!
Comment by Tricia — August 4, 2007 @ 6:29 pm
Thanks so much everyone for your comments, they always make me so happy!
I’m going to have to try the scallops on pizza…that sounds amazing, L!
S’kat, never? Really? OMgosh you *Do* have to remedy that!
Tricia, trying the recipes is not required.
hehehe Thanks for coming to look!
Seriously everyone, I appreciate your comments so very much.
Comment by nikki — August 5, 2007 @ 9:28 am
Oh, yum! You should consider joining the “Make It From Scratch” Carnival. They’d love your recipes!
Comment by HowToMe — August 8, 2007 @ 2:11 am
Hi, I just found your website, I was looking for a nutty pilau recipe, I found it (will be using it and linking it to your website.
The pizza looks so delish!
Comment by Saju — August 10, 2007 @ 6:34 pm
This pizza looks amazing! I was born in Minneapolis, lived in Maple Grove. Sadly we moved when I was 7 so I don’t remember a ton. I do miss it though.
Comment by Christine — August 12, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
I hope the reason you have been gone a while is because you are planning a big, HUGE, massive, DELICIOUS new post
Comment by elly — August 16, 2007 @ 4:55 am
Hi HowToMe! I’m not sure what the “Make it from scratch carnival” is, but thanks!
I grew up in St.Cloud (about an hour north).
Stay tuned for tiramisu, banana cream pie, zucchini fritters…etc. 
Thank you Saju!
Christine, Maple Grove is a great place to live…still smaller than the big suburbs, but close enough to all the action to be anywhere in 20 minutes!
Hey there, Elly! Nice to see you again! Things have been a crazy mess around here lately…my laptop is broken which makes it next to impossible to work (our pc is in the bedroom), I do have a bunch of pics and recipes to post, I am hoping to get them up soon!
Comment by nikki — August 20, 2007 @ 7:53 am
That sounds so fantastic. I have just been making menu plans in anticipation of a hectic fall schedule and was planning to do homemade pizzas every Friday night…this recipe will definitely be in the rotation! I can’t actually remember how I came across your blog, but I am very glad I did. It is inspirational!
Comment by Mary Alice — August 23, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
I used to go to that Green Mill all the time! Incredible pizza. My sister lived right around the corner from it. Small world.
Comment by Bekah — September 7, 2007 @ 5:46 pm
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