Shrimp & Nettle Pesto Pizza

Name: Shrimp & Nettle Pesto Pizza
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 6 Ounces Raw Shrimp (peeled and deveined); 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil (to cook shrimp); 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or 6-8 ounces fresh mozzarella); 1/4 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese (shaved or grated); 3 Tablespoons Stinging Nettle Pesto (or fresh basil pesto); Homemade Pizza Dough (half of this recipe for one pizza); 1/2 Cup Arugula (or rocket as they call it in the UK); Red Pepper Flakes (optional seasoning)

Shrimp and Pesto are a marriage made heaven. Whether it be on pizza, in pasta, with pastry or just the two together as an appetizer. This Shrimp & Nettle Pesto Pizza is no exception and is super easy. It takes only four to five minutes to bake. Yes, really. So, up your game if you dare and make this Foolproof & Easy Homemade Pizza Dough (which only takes 35-55 minutes), and you’ve only added to the level of amazing, mouth watering gourmet pizza that dreams are made of.

Female hand spreading bright green nettle pesto on a rolled out pizza dough with a metal spoon. Dough is on wooden pizza peel and that's on a granite surface. — When using a wooden pizza peel, I prefer to place the rolled dough on a peel generously dusted with cornmeal, then add my toppings. Careful not to press too hard. You’ll need to pizza to slide off the peel and onto the hot stone in the oven.

Do I have to use Nettle Pesto?

Nope. Basil pesto will work just as well. If you don’t know what I mean by “Nettle”, I’m referring to “Stinging Nettles.” It’s is a wonderful obnoxious weed that somehow has some wonderful culinary uses as well as numerous potential health benefits (folic acid anyone?). See previous post for more information and the recipe to make the Stinging Nettle Pesto for this Shrimp & Nettle Pesto Pizza. Otherwise, you can use this homemade Fresh Basil Pesto, or your favorite store-bought version (lazy can still be wonderful). But if you do make your own stinging nettle pesto, and I hope you do… know that you can use it for many things beyond this pizza and it will keep in the fridge for several weeks… if you can keep yourself from eating it all in one sitting.

Raw shrimp & nettle pesto pizza topped with fresh arugula and parmesan cheese on a wood pizza peel. There's a nutcracker who looks like a chef in the foreground. — This pizza was made using aged mozzarella, but fresh mozzarella is great as well. (probably my favorite)

A word on cheese for your pizza

I have used both aged mozzarella and fresh mozzarella for just about all my pizzas and they are always delicious. So, if you have one and not the other, don’t worry – it will work.

Pizza being transferred from a wood pizza peel to a pizza stone in an oven. There's a woman's arm scooping up a rogue shrimp that has fallen off the pizza with a metal spatula. — If there isn’t enough flour or cornmeal to help your pizza slide off, a spatula can be useful. It also helps to catch rogue shrimp that roll off the pizza. LOL

Do I need a pizza stone?

If you want a good tasting pizza crust, then yes. As I mention in my Foolproof & Easy Homemade Pizza Dough post. Any fresh raw dough is going to be better baked on a piping hot surface. This pizza only takes five minutes or less in a 500°F oven and you need the pizza to land on a very hot surface to get the proper crispy crust.