Pizzette with Garlic Shrimp & Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

This beautiful Pizzette with Garlic Shrimp and Roasted Red Pepper Pesto is the perfect appetizer for any Holiday gathering. They’re also easy to make and taste incredible! They’re made with store-bought pizza dough; homemade roasted red pepper pesto, with Cured Mahon-Menorca Cheese; shredded Semi-Cured Mahon-Menorca Cheese; and Spanish styled Garlic Shrimp, with a hint of smoked paprika.  These flavors marry together irresistibly.

This is a sponsored post by Mahon Menorca Cheese.

This is my second recipe in a bloggers’ challenge for Mahon-Menorca cheeses. As you’ll see, my first recipe for Cheesy Pasta Bake in Individual Ramekins is already gaining popularity, for good reason. For this challenge, I received several kinds of cheese and I compete with other bloggers to create recipes which best showcase the cheese. Success here is marked by cash prizes and/or a trip to Menorca Island, to visit the production facility which actually produces this great cheese – but most importantly by your enjoyment of this recipe and this cheese. Check also my third recipe in this challenge: Veal Rollatini with Menorca Cheese, Roasted Peppers and Basil in Tomato Olive Sauce.

This post may contain affiliate links. You can read my disclosure policy HERE.

Pizzette with Garlic Shrimp & Roasted Red Pepper Pesto – A Beautiful Appetizer for the Holidays

I am publishing this recipe with Christmas right around the corner because I believe it’s a  beautiful dish to serve as a holiday appetizer. However, it can be served year round for any gathering. This Pizzette for sure captures the “wow” factor. It tastes amazing, but it also looks pretty cool too.

Since I had a Mahon-Menorca cheese to work with I decided to create a recipe that likewise captured classic Spanish flavors. The Garlic Shrimp here is made very similar to Gambas Al Ajillo, with lots of garlic, fresh parsley, and some hot Spanish Smoked Paprika.

With Spanish Smoked Paprika, a little goes a long way. It is spicy and very fragrant. The shrimp, with all the garlic and parsley, are elevated to another level with the smokiness from paprika (trust me).

Pizza or pizzette are usually made with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. To make things interesting I decided to use Red Pepper Pesto instead of a classic tomato sauce. I used toasted walnuts and Cured Mahon Menorca Cheese for the pesto and then added a Semi-cured Mahon Menorca cheese to top off the pizzette.  No joke, this may be the best piece of pizza pie I’ve ever tasted! And how beautiful does it look?

How to Make Pizzette with Garlic Shrimp & Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

Step 1: Preheat your oven. Place your pizza stone in the oven and heat it up to 450F. After the oven reaches the temperature let the stone continue to heat up for another 15-30 minutes before sliding pizzette pieces onto it.

Step 2: Prepare your ingredients. Take the pizza dough out of the fridge a half hour before making pizzette. Toast your walnuts if you bought them raw (not necessary if you bought them roasted), peel your garlic (chop 6 of them), chop the parsley, and shred your cheeses.

Step 4: Make Roasted Pepper Pesto. In a food processor combine roasted peppers, toasted walnuts, shredded Cured Mahon Menorca Cheese, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Pulse to combine. Taste for seasoning. Add salt & pepper and process until all ingredients are well combined into a pesto. Set aside.

Step 5:  Work with pizza dough. To avoid the dreaded pizza dough stickiness, spread some flour with semolina on your pizza peel. Divide pizza dough into small balls and stretch into little squares (from 1/2 lbs of store-bought pizza dough you should make 6 pizzettes).

Step 6: Prepare and bake pizzette. Add about a tablespoon of pesto onto each pizzette and spread around. Top with shredded semi-cured Mahon Menorca Cheese and, one at the time, slide onto the hot pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove one at the time back on the dry pizza peel.

Step 7: Make Garlic Shrimp. While your pizza is cooking, heat up a skillet and add butter with olive oil and garlic. Cook for 1 minute, then add shrimp. Season with a pinch of salt and cook shrimp for about 2 minutes on each side. Sprinkle smoked paprika and chopped parsley and set aside.

Step 8: Assemble pizzette. Once your pizzette is out of the oven, scoop two shrimp on each one. Spoon some more garlic, parsley sauce on the top and then serve.

Equipment Needed to Make This Pizzette Recipe:

• Pizza Stone;
• Pizza Peel;
• Set of Knives;
• Food Processor;
• Cheese Grater;
• Frying Pan.

What kind of Mahon-Menorca Cheeses can be found in the U.S.?

Mahon-Menorca Cheese is a product with a Protected Guarantee of Origin (“PGO”). It means that this is a product which is very closely related to the geographic area where it’s produced – the island of Menorca.

Depending on its degree of maturity, the PGO covers the following types of cheeses:

1. TENDER. Soft and creamy. Yellowish/white in color, with very little developed crust. Its taste is milky with slight undertones of butter. It’s aged for 21-60 days.
2. SEMI-CURED. Characteristic and unmistakable. The crust of this cheese is orange, and the cheese is firm yet easy to cut, showing irregular holes throughout. Its milky in taste and the flavor is more developed, with reminiscences of toasted nuts and dried fruit. It’s aged for 2-5 months.
3. CURED. A delicacy for cheese connoisseurs. Its texture is firm and hard. It’s less creamy and in advanced stages of maturity – it breaks, flaking upon being cut. It has a very developed flavor and aroma, with a complex and intense taste. This cheese is aged more than 5 months.

There is also a new one, a Traditional Style cheese made with Raw Milk that’s aged for 6 months. It’s also very complex and intense.

Mahon-Menorca Cheese is easily found throughout the U.S.

All these cheeses can be easily found throughout the US in your local Whole Foods. Other stores include:

• Fairway,
• West Side Market,
• Gourmet Garage,
• Saveway,
• Murray’s,
• Kroger,
• Costco,
• Central Markets,
• Central,
• Town & Country Markets in Seattle, and
• All the best grocery specialty stores across the county.

Other Spanish Recipes to Try

• Mahon-Menorca Pinwheels with Serrano Ham and Fig Jam;
• Pan Seared Ribeye with Mahon Menorca Cheese Sauce and Cracked Pepper;
• Romesco Sauce;
• Spanish Style Tuna Stew;
• Andalusian Gazpacho.

Pizzette with Garlic Shrimp and Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

This beautiful Pizzette with Garlic Shrimp and Roasted Red Pepper Pesto is the perfect appetizer for any Holiday gathering. They're also easy to make and taste incredible! They're made with store-bought pizza dough; homemade roasted red pepper pesto, with Cured Mahon-Menorca Cheese; shredded Semi-Cured Mahon-Menorca Cheese; and Spanish styled Garlic Shrimp, with a hint of smoked paprika.  These flavors marry together irresistibly. 

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: European, Italian, Spanish

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Heating up pizza stone: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 253kcal

Author: Edyta

Ingredients

For Pizzette

• 1/2 cup Semi-Cured Mahon-Menorca Cheese shredded
• 1/2 lbs Pizza Dough store-bought

For Roasted Pepper Pesto

• 1 cup Roasted peppers from the jar
• 1/2 cup Walnuts toasted or store-bought roasted
• 1 clove Garlic
• 1/4 cup Cured Mahon-Menorca Cheese shredded
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil Extra Virgin
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Garlic Shrimp

• 12 Shrimp medium size, cleaned, tails removed
• 6 cloves Garlic finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Butter unsalted
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil Extra Virgin
• 2 tbsp Parsley chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon Spanish Smoked Paprika
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat your oven. Place your pizza stone in the oven and heat it up to 450F. After the oven reaches the temperature let the stone continue to heat up for another 15-30 minutes before sliding pizzette pieces onto it.
• Prepare your ingredients. Take the pizza dough out of the fridge a half hour before making pizzette. Toast your walnuts if you bought them raw (not necessary if you bought them roasted), peel your garlic (chop 6 of them), chop the parsley, and shred your Mahon-Menorca cheeses.
• Make Roasted Pepper Pesto. In a food processor combine roasted peppers, toasted walnuts, shredded Cured Mahon Menorca Cheese, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. Pulse to combine. Taste for seasoning. Add salt & pepper and process until all ingredients are well combined into a pesto. Set aside.
• Work with pizza dough. To avoid the dreaded pizza dough stickiness, spread some flour with semolina on your pizza peel. Divide pizza dough into small balls and stretch into little squares (from 1/2 lbs of store-bought pizza dough you should make 6 pizzettes).
• Prepare and bake pizzette. Add about a tablespoon of pesto onto each pizzette and spread around. Top with shredded semi-cured Mahon Menorca Cheese and, one at the time, slide onto the hot pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove one at the time back on the dry pizza peel.
• Make Garlic Shrimp. While your pizza is cooking, heat up a skillet and add butter with olive oil and garlic. Cook for 1 minute, then add shrimp. Season with a pinch of salt and cook shrimp for about 2 minutes on each side. Sprinkle smoked paprika and chopped parsley and set aside.
• Assemble pizzette. Once your pizzette is out of the oven, scoop two shrimp on each one. Spoon some more garlic, parsley sauce on the top and then serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 615mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 310IU | Vitamin C: 8.7mg | Calcium: 136mg | Iron: 1.7mg

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