Cheesy Basil Pizza, plus Burrata

This is one for the pizza lovers out there…homemade Cheesy Basil Pizza made with fresh pesto, creamy burrata and sprinkled with pine nuts. Now, this is going to truly transform your pizza night!

This basil pizza is everything. It's made with homemade pizza dough and has a simple white base of mozzarella and parmesan.

Yup, there's no tomato in sight and trust us you ain't going to miss it one bit.

Making Pizza Dough From Scratch

Pizza dough is so easy to make at home and you don't need a machine (we always do it by hand). It takes only 10 minutes to prepare and if you have the time to wait on it proving 4-8 hours then it's so worth it. Here's a recipe for our Basic Pizza Dough that works perfectly every time!

Alternatively, you can use our Instant Pizza Dough Recipe which is similar to a flatbread style dough and will give you thin pizza crusts in 10 minutes or you can use storebought pizza dough if you need to.

The Toppings

We've used homemade basil pesto to top this pizza which goes on after it's been in the oven so you keep all of the bold and fresh flavours.

Whatever you do don't use storebought or pre-jarred pesto because it won't taste anything near as good as this. You can make pesto from scratch in around 2 minutes (literally) and it's so worth it.

Then there's burrata…is there anything better in life? A mozzarella balloon filled with cream and stracciatella…oh our god it's good and it takes this basil pizza to the next level.

How to Make Cheesy Basil Pizza, plus Burrata – Step By Step

You can find step by step photos and instructions on how to make homemade pizza dough here. You also find the BEST recipe for homemade pesto here it takes 2 minutes to make and tastes good!

Divide the pizza dough into two balls or four if you prefer smaller pizzas. Roll one ball of dough out to your desired thickness remembering it will rise in the oven so always roll the dough thinner than you want.

Dust a baking tray or pizza stone with fine semolina or regular flour then transfer the rolled out dough to the tray. Repeat with the second ball of dough and place of a second tray. If you don't have two trays do the second pizza after the first one comes out of the oven.

Cover the base with mozzarella and parmesan and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the crust is golden and cheese is bubbling and melted (photos 1 & 2).

Remove from the oven and top with pesto, burrata and a sprinkling of pepper and pine nuts (photos 2 & 4).

Top Tips for Making Cheesy Basil Pizza

• Pre-heat the oven to your highest setting before baking.
• Leave the pizza dough to rise for 4-8 hours if possible. We've used pizza dough after only 1-2 hours and although it's still good it won't be as light and airy.
• Make homemade pesto…never buy storebought or this pizza won't taste anything like it should.
• If you can't find burrata you can use more mozzarella or go for something different like taleggio.
• Always put the burrata and pesto on after you have cooked the pizza for best flavour and texture.
• Use semolina or regular flour to dust your baking trays with to stop the pizza sticking and to help give a nice crispy crust.

More good Pizza Recipes You Might Like:

• Cheesy Potato Pizza With Thyme
• Basil Pesto Pizza with Mozzarella & Roasted Tomatoes
• Anchovy Pizza with Capers (Pizza Napoli)
• Quattro Stagioni Pizza – Four Seasons Pizza

Ingredients

Makes 2 large pizzas (serves 6-8)

• 1 batch basic pizza dough
• Semolina or regular flour for dusting
• 1 batch homemade pesto
• 250 g mozzarella (2 balls)
• 2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
• 1 burrata
• 2 tsp pine nuts

Method

1. You can find step by step photos and instructions on how to make homemade pizza dough here. You also find the BEST recipe for homemade pesto here, it takes 2 minutes to make and tastes incredible!

2. Divide the pizza dough into two balls or four if you prefer smaller pizzas. Roll one ball of dough out to your desired thickness remembering it will rise in the oven so always roll the dough thinner than you really want.

3. Dust a baking tray or pizza stone with fine semolina or regular flour then transfer the rolled out dough to the tray. Repeat with the second ball of dough and place of a second tray. If you don't have two trays do the second pizza after the first one comes out of the oven.

4. Cover the base with mozzarella and parmesan and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the crust is golden and cheese is bubbling and melted.

5. Remove from the oven and top with pesto, burrata and a sprinkling of pepper and pine nuts.

Kitchen notes

• Pre-heat the oven to your highest setting before baking.
• Leave the pizza dough to rise for 4-8 hours if possible. We've used pizza dough after only 1-2 hours and although it's still good it won't be as light and airy.
• Make homemade pesto...never buy storebought or this pizza won't taste anything like it should.
• If you can't find burrata you can use more mozzarella or go for something different like taleggio.
• Always put the burrata and pesto on after you have cooked the pizza for best flavour and texture.
• Use semolina or regular flour to dust your baking trays with to stop the pizza sticking and to help give a nice crispy crust.