Lauki Pizza with Pesto

Lauki (Bottle gourd) Pizza with pesto step by step instructions:

This pesto sauce pizza is super healthy and delicious too. When I had made zucchini pizza for the first time, my husband was so happy and he liked the pizza too much. Since then, I always try making pizzas with different bases.
Bottle gourd pizza is a great option for parties. Instead of using the pizza sauce, I used pesto sauce. I made the Pesto sauce from walnuts, dried basil leaves, and mozzarella cheese. Fresh basil leaves are required for making the sauce but if you don’t have fresh basil, use the dried ones. The sauce is equally tasty.

Do try this recipe and share your feedback!

Let us start cooking!!!

Ingredients:
For the pesto sauce:
Dried Basil leaves: ¼ cup
Mozzarella cheese: 40 gms
Garlic cloves: 2-3
Walnut: 1 tbsp. (broken into pieces)
Olive oil: 2 tbsp.
Black pepper as per taste
Salt as per taste
For the pizza:
Lauki (Bottle Gourd): 250 gms
Onion: 6-7 thin slices
Tomato: 6-7 thin slices
Cheese: 1 cube (8gms, grated)
Tomato ketchup: 1 tbsp.

Method:
Prepare the pesto sauce:
1. In a mixer grind together mozzarella, walnuts, dried basil leaves, and garlic.

2. Add olive oil and grind again.

3. Take out in a bowl and add salt and black pepper. Mix well.

4. Pesto sauce is ready!

For the pizza:
5. Peel the lauki and cut it into half lengthwise. Deseed it if the seeds are big else put some cross cut marks on the flesh.

6. Apply the pesto sauce on the lauki.

7. Put onion and tomato on it and then add grated cheese.

8. Put few drops of tomato ketchup on each slice.

9. Preheat oven at 180° C.
10. Keep the pizza slices in a baking dish and keep the dish inside the oven and bake for 40 minutes at 180°C or until the lauki becomes tender.

11. Sprinkle some oregano and chili flakes and serve hot.
12. Healthy “Lauki Pizza with Pesto” is ready!

Tips:
1. The bottle gourd can be steamed first and then baked. This will reduce the baking time.
2. Toppings can be chosen as per one’s choice.
3. If fresh basil is available then that can also be used for making the pesto.

See you soon with a new recipe till then Happy Cooking!!!