Avocado and Cilantro Pesto Pizza (Frugal Food Thursday)

Welcome to Frugal Food Thursday!  If you have a great frugal recipe, please link up below! 

One more week until I'll be posting my recipe for lemon-pepper tilapia with grape tomato salsa.  I promise! But this week, I'm posting a recipe combining my homemade whole wheat pizza crust and my cilantro pesto and adding sliced Roma tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and yummy, creamy avocados!

Making whole-wheat pizza dough is easy when you use a breadmaker for the kneading and rising.  And it's much cheaper than buying a premade pizza shell, not to mention healthier.

I found cilantro for 69¢ per bunch at a local grocery store with good produce deals, and Roma tomatoes were 99¢ per pound. But I live in South Florida, so perhaps cilantro and tomatoes are not cheap for you at this time of year, as they are for me.  For the Northerners, you could grow cilantro during the summer, then make the pesto and store it in the freezer - and have a bit of summer freshness in the middle of winter!  You could also use a good quality canned tomato, or sun-dry tomatoes during the summer and use those.

Avocadoes generally are in season in the spring, but cheap avocadoes can be found at other times of year as well.  I found mine for 89¢ each - not the cheapest price, but not too bad.  I can grow avocado-producing trees in my area, but I don't have one... yet!

Enjoy this recipe, whether it's frugal for you now, or later on in the year!

AVOCADO AND CILANTRO PESTO PIZZA

1-1/3 cup water
2 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. yeast
2 bunches cilantro
4 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, peeled
large pinch of salt
large pinch of freshly ground black pepper
4 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 avocados, skins and pit removed, diced

Make the whole wheat pizza dough: Add the water, 2 tbsp olive oil, 3/4 tsp salt, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and yeast in the order that your bread machine manufacturer suggests.  Put the breadmaker on the dough cycle and allow it to run.

Meanwhile, make the cilantro pesto: Remove leaves from the cilantro stems.  In a food processor place the cilantro leaves, 4 tbsp olive oil,  Parmesan, garlic cloves, and salt and pepper.  Process until smooth.

Once the breadmaker cycle has completed,  preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the dough from the breadmaker and divide it into two.  Roll out into rectangles and place in two 9x13 baking pans.  Bake at 450 for 6 minutes.

Remove the pans from the oven, leaving the oven still on.  Spread the cilantro pesto over the two crusts.  Top with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and diced avocado.  Bake at 450 degrees for another 6 minutes.

Makes 2 pizzas - serves 4-6.

There are lots more cheap recipes posted here at Frugal Follies.  Click here for the list!

Got a great frugal recipe?  Link below to your actual post, not your main page.  Please only link up recipes and other food-related posts; contest entries and other posts are not allowed and will be deleted. I'd appreciate it if you would link back to Frugal Food Thursday as well!



For more great recipes, please visit the bloggers listed on the left sidebar under Food Linkups. There are lots of great recipes on each blog and I'm sure you'll find some new favorites!