Pesto Caprese Puff Pastry Pizza.
We adore this caprese puff pastry! Flaky puff pastry is layered with fresh basil pesto, juicy ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and a balsamic glaze. It’s a lovely weeknight meal or the perfect summer appetizer!
This is a sheet pan of summer right here.
This puff pastry is covered with the best pesto ever, ripe, juicy tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, balsamic glaze and a sprinkling of parmesan. It tastes like summer and is so delicious that I can hardly stand it.
It’s no secret that I freak out over everything puff pastry. Make it into a pizza, a tart, a hand pie, soup topping, dessert and more – I absolutely love it. It’s such a great kitchen hack, pretty accessible, easy to use and not to mention, incredibly buttery, flaky and delicious. I can never pass it up!
I’ve made so many different versions of a puff pastry pizza over the years. Our favorite is probably my weeknight white pizza – it’s a hit with just about everyone. This one is similar but with tons of pesto and basil and balsamic.
I start the puff pastry with my favorite pesto! Of course. I make my pesto at least once a week. You could also use a store-bought version. It’s a staple that I must have in my fridge at all times in the summer months because I use it so frequently. In this case, I spread it on the puff pastry as the first layer, or our sauce. It adds a perfect depth of flavor and goes great with tomatoes and mozzarella.
When it comes to the tomatoes, I like to use ripe tomatoes and salt them a bit before placing them on the puff pastry. Then I pat them dry with a paper towel once they have released some of their juices.
This helps to keep the puff pastry from becoming watery. It’s key!
Another key here is to tear your fresh mozzarella into small pieces. The fresh mozzarella slices are a bit too thick and heavy for the thin puff pastry. By tearing the cheese into pieces, not only do we cover more surface area with the cheese, we avoid weighing down parts of the pastry. It also helps prevent the cheese from becoming watery too.
Oh and a second option is to use grated mozzarella or an italian blend cheese. My favorite brand is tillamook and I find it at Target.
Puff pastry only cooks for about 25 minutes. It’s super flaky and the perfect thin crust. I drizzle everything with syrupy balsamic glaze when it comes out of the oven. Lots of parmesan, another drizzle of pesto and some fresh basil are the finishing touches on this baby! It’s such a great easy weeknight meal or even a wonderful appetizer.
And while I tend to prefer puff pastry meals shortly after they are cooked, reheating this for lunch the next day is pretty good too. You lose a little of the structured flakiness, but the flavor is still incredible and it’s so satisfying.
This is one of those easy meals that I usually have all the ingredients for – especially in the summer. It tastes fancy and elevated, but it’s very simple.
There is no better summer treat!
Pesto Caprese Puff Pastry
Pesto Caprese Puff Pastry Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed if frozen
- 1 to 2 beefsteak tomatoes, thinly sliced
- kosher salt and pepper
- ⅓ cup pesto, plus more for drizzling
- 6 ounces fresh mozzarella, pulled apart into pieces
- 1 egg + 1 teaspoon water, beaten together for egg wash
- balsamic glaze, for drizzling
- fresh basil, for topping
- parmesan cheese, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the puff pastry sheet on a piece of parchment paper, on a baking sheet. Poke it all over with a fork. This prevents large bubbles.
- Slice the tomatoes and place them on a paper towel. Sprinkle them all over with salt. Let sit for 5 minutes to release some of the juices. After 5 minutes, pat them dry with a paper towel.
- Spread the pesto on the puff pastry, leaving a 1-inch border. Top with the tomatoes. Top with the mozzarella pieces.
- Brush the edges of the puff pastry with the egg wash. This is optional, but helps give that shiny, puff pastry crust.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden and crisp.
- Remove from the oven and drizzle with more pesto. Drizzle with balsamic glaze. Top with fresh basil and a sprinkle of mozzarella. Slice and serve!
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I appreciate you so much!
This is everything I want to eat.
9 Comments on “Pesto Caprese Puff Pastry Pizza.”
this looks absolutely amazing!!
You are an evil genius! I can’t wait to make this. My weight loss progress hates you, but my tastebuds freakin’ LOVE you.
This looks wonderul! Do you have a recommendation for your favorite brand of puff pastry? Thanks for all your recipes!
I would also love to know this! I used Pepperidge farms brand, but each sheet was roughly 10×10″ and one didn’t come close to covering a standard sheet pan… yours look rectangular!
If anyone was of the mindset of creating a dedicated cook book on puff pastry pizza, it should be Jessica. You’ve unleashed something in me, and besides trying every iteration that you come up with, I find that ALL of my thin crust pies can be done on puff pastry. We had your pesto version last night and went gaga. Thank you so much for well…..you!
Hi, just made this, but your recipe does not mention rolling out the puff pastry for us novice and enthusiastic home cooks the little details are important:)
hi diane, i do not roll out the puff pastry! i just use it as it comes in a sheet.
This recipe was great! However, my puff pastry was underdone in the middle. Did I simply not bake it long enough? Do you have any recommendations on how to know when it’s fully cooked? The edges were perfectly golden brown and the flavor was fantastic.
Outstanding