Shrimp Scampi Pesto Pizza (Earls California Shrimp Pizza Copycat)
Remember the California shrimp pizza from Earls? I do and I miss it. So I am re-creating it at home instead of daydreaming about pizza. I’m a go-getter like that. A pizza stone is a must for an extra crispy crust! If you don’t own a pizza stone, make sure you heat up your pizza pan (or baking sheet or whatever you are using) in the oven instead.
Shrimp Scampi Pesto Pizza (Earls California Shrimp Pizza Copycat)
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 7 minutes
Total time: 27 minutes
Yield: 2 pizzas (around 11’ each)
INGREDIENTS
1 best thin crust pizza dough recipe **use only 2 of the dough balls for this recipe and freeze the other one!
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup white wine (or chicken stock)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ cups grated mozzarella
2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2/3 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
¼ cup store-bought pesto sauce
1lb shrimp, rinsed, peeled and de-veined
Lemon wedges for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Turn your oven to 500F and place your pizza stone (or pizza pan) on the bottom rack. Let it heat up for 15-20 minutes.
In a small saucepan melt butter and olive oil over medium low heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice and zest, white wine and increase heat to medium. Let simmer for 4 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until no longer translucent and light pink in colour (3 minutes maximum)! If shrimp is slightly undercooked that is okay because they will continue to cook in the oven. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
Roll out your pizza dough on top of a cornmeal sprinkled pizza peel (or a cutting board). Be generous with the cornmeal, moving the pizza around to ensure that it is not sticking. Spoon half of the white wine garlic sauce onto the base of the pizza. Top with half of the mozzarella, shrimp, sun dried tomatoes and crumbled feta. Drizzle with half of the pesto and cook directly on the hot pizza stone for 7 minutes. Repeat the process with the second ball of dough for pizza number 2. Garnish your pizza with fresh lemon wedges before serving.