I don’t think of myself as a huge fan of fusion food, whatever that is. I like a certain harmony in the flavors of a meal, and I think that can be harder to achieve when you bring wildly diverse cuisines onto the plate at once. But every once in a while I go there. And every once in a while it works. Take this pizza.
I’ve got a constant supply of tomatillos at the moment, and after eating countless batches of our favorite tomatillo salsa I was finally ready for a change. The kids wanted pizza, I wanted to use up a bunch of cilantro, and this pizza was born. I loved it.
If you haven’t made this cilantro pesto yet, please consider it. It’s an untraditional combination of flavors, but it’s just so good. And you can even make it with just stems if you’ve got a plan for the leaves elsewhere. And it’s great on pizza. Just dollop it on after baking to ensure that its flavor isn’t dulled by the oven.
Tomatillo Pizza with Cilantro Pesto: Turn your oven up as hot as it goes and put in your pizza stone, if you have one. Roll your favorite pizza dough (I used about 1/3 whole wheat flour this time) quite thin and sprinkle with grated mozzarella. (This first layer of cheese helps protect the crust from the moisture of the tomatillos. You could rub a spoonful of olive oil onto the crust first, but I didn’t.) Spread thinly-sliced tomatillos all over the pizza and top with another sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. Wasn’t that easy? Bake until the crust is lightly browned on the bottom (if you’re using a pizza stone; otherwise just make sure it’s crisp around the edges) and the cheese is lightly browned on the top. Remove from the oven, drizzle with cilantro pesto, and serve. We had this pizza with a Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad, and it didn’t seem too fusion-y at all.
Emmy Cooks 
YUMMY! This sounds awesome!
Once again you’ve got my mouth watering like crazy!
I’ve nominated you for an award, you can check it out here: http://peonut.com/2012/10/13/more-blushing/
Aw, shucks. Thank you! What a nice compliment. :)
Pizza is so versatile, and you’ve proved it with this version! Wish I had some leftover for breakfast
I wished that I did too…but we ate it all. :)
That’s a great idea, with the cilantro pesto. Sometimes I try new things on a pizza but I end up using almost the same ingredients.
What’s your usual toppings combination, then? I always like to know other people’s favorites–it’s great inspiration!
YUM!!! Thurs night is generally pizza night in our house and I’m definitely putting this on the menu!
We need a regular pizza night. What are your other favorite combos? I am ready to crank up the oven now that it’s getting cold here again! :)
So pretty! Almost art. Cilantro pesto is one of my faves :D Great recipe, Emmy. Thank you xx
Thanks, Nicole! I agree that food can be at least as pretty as some art. :)
Thanks for sharing this recipe this is awesome!
Thank you! Enjoy.
I don’t usually do too much fusion food sometimes, but a pizza is a great canvas on which to do it. Looks yummy :)
I agree: bread and cheese can go in a lot of directions. Which is fortunate because I quite like bread and cheese. :)
Oh me too, me too!
Now this is fusion food at it’s finest! It’s hard to go wrong with cilantro and tomatillos! Yummy Emmy!
Whoa, tomatillos on a pizza! I never would have thought of that, but I bet it tastes amazing. (Didn’t your hands get all slimy slicing them though?)
Also Emmy, thank you SO MUCH for the lovely trio-of-jams package. I’m so excited about all of the goodies you stuck in! It was so nice to get that in the mail… I feel very lucky indeed. : )
Wow! I would have never thought about tomatillos on a pizza -but this sounds delicious, especially with the cilantro. Thanks for the great idea. -Rene
Looks absolutely delicious!! So flavorful. So glad to find your blog.
Yummo Emmy! Emily :)
I love all of the flavors going on here. I know that cilantro is one of those foods that divides people without prejudice, but I absolutely love cilantro. This looks great.