National Pizza Month Week 2: Smoked Salmon and Avocado Pizza with Pesto Cream Cheese Sauce on a Garlic Dill Crust
For week two of National Pizza Month, I am once again taking one of my favorite flavor combinations (smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese) and turning it into a pizza. And let me go ahead and put it out there: this just might be the best pizza I’ve ever made. Or so Courtney claimed, as I nodded in agreement grunting, “restaurant quality.”
I largely credit the dough. It was perfectly chewy and the flavors of the garlic and the dill really came through. The pesto cream cheese sauce, which I literally made up as I went along, also came out perfectly; so well, in fact, that Courtney is going to start using it on his pasta. And the smoked salmon and avocado? You just can’t go wrong with that combo.
“But avocado on a pizza,” you ask, “doesn’t it get… warm?!” It does! And it’s wonderful. In fact cooked avocado is one of my favorite discoveries. It has the same amazing flavor and is even more tender and buttery. All things considered, this is most certainly one of my favorite pizzas yet. To sum it up simply: I just didn’t want it to end! Really, if you only knew the willpower it took for us to make this last two nights!
Smoked Salmon and Avocado Pizza with Pesto Cream Cheese Sauce
A Messy Kitchen Original
Ingredients:
- 1 recipe garlicky pizza dough + 1 Tbsp dried dill mixed into dry ingredients
- 2 Tbsp pesto
- 2 oz light cream cheese
- 1/2 cup milk of choice (I used 2%)
- 1 Tbsp grated parmesan
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 oz smoked salmon, cut into small pieces
- 3 oz avocado, diced
Cooking Instructions:
These instructions assume that you have already prepared your crust; I always pre-bake my crust before adding toppings so that it’s crisper.
- Combine cream cheese, pesto, milk and parmesan in a small sauce pan and heat until cream cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for just a couple of minutes to allow sauce to thicken up.
- Spread sauce over the pre-baked pizza crust. Spread smoked salmon and avocado evenly across the pie.
- Bake at 350 degrees for an additional 5-8 minutes.
