Puff Pastry Pizza with Heirloom Tomatoes, Pancetta & Fresh Mozzarella

My list of to-dos has been pretty hefty lately because I’m trying to get a bunch of stuff done before baby arrives. Not only do I have stuff I want to get finished around the house, I also have things I want to do as a family of three and a bunch of summer meals I want to cook before September rolls around. I’m really slacking!

Two of the meals on my list include homemade pizza and ice cream – these go hand-in-hand, right? They are both on the list because we haven’t had ANY this whole summer. Yikes, super embarrassing. I’ll just blame it on busyness and pregnancy brain.

While I would have loved to have kneaded some homemade dough this weekend, our schedule seemed to fill up again with summer activities and things to do around the house, so I decided to put together an easier alternative: a puff pastry za. It’s a nice go-to for a weeknight or weekend when you’ve got a lot going on, but are craving the goodness of pizza.

The great thing about puff pastry is all you have to do is thaw it out and stick it in a preheated oven. These two steps bring you a golden, flaky crust, making it the perfect base for all of your favorite pizza toppings. I topped ours with pesto, pine nuts, fresh mozzarella, pancetta, heirloom tomatoes and a balsamic glaze. All of these ingredients can be bought already prepared, making this the quickest pizza you’ll ever make! If you are looking to make a couple of elements homemade, I have a recipe for homemade pesto below that’s really nice to use for this pizza.

I will say, as bummed as I am that I haven’t made homemade pizza dough this summer (I still have a couple of weeks left though!), this puff pastry was just as nice if not better because it wasn’t a hassle to put together. Plus, I got to spend the extra time it would have taken me to make dough and with my husband and daughter. Sometimes it’s nice to slow down and take things easy, especially when you’re over 37 weeks pregnant and about to pop. 🙂 Trust me, I’m ready. Even putting this together for lunch yesterday wore me out.

If you end up making this puff pastry za, don’t forget to tag your photos with #marinamakeseats!

Puff Pastry Pizza with Heirloom Tomatoes, Pancetta & Fresh Mozzarella

Ingredients

• 2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed (there are normally two in a box)
• 5 oz of pancetta, chopped into little pieces
• 1 cup of store-bought pesto, or homemade pesto (see ingredients and recipe below)
• 2-3 tablespoons of pine nuts
• 8 oz of fresh mozzarella
• 2 large heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic glaze (they sell glaze at most grocery stores)

Homemade Pesto

• 1/4 cup of pine nuts
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1 cup of fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 cup of grated parmigiano reggiano
• Pancetta grease (left over from cooking pancetta)

Directions

Begin thawing the puff pastry by leaving it out on a counter for about 30-45 minutes.

In a medium skillet, cook the pancetta over medium-high heat until crisp. When finished cooking, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, saving the pancetta grease if you’re making homemade pesto.

Next, make the pesto. Combine the pine nuts, olive oil, pancetta grease and garlic in a food processor until smooth. Add the basil, salt and cheese to the mixture and process until combined. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When preheated, unfold the sheets and lay each one on a baking sheet. Prick each sheet multiple times (all over) with a fork. Spread the pesto evenly between both and top with a sprinkle or two of pine nuts.

Cook the puff pastry for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Don’t be alarmed if parts of the sheet puff up, the puff should go down after you take it out of the oven and if it doesn’t prick it with a knife and it will.

Take it out of the oven and top with slices of fresh mozzarella cheese and place the sheets back in the oven for about 3-5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Once again, take the sheets out of the oven and top with pancetta and tomato slices. Finally, top the pastry sheets with a drizzle of balsamic glaze.