Is it just me or have the heirloom tomatoes in the market been even more amazing than normal this year? Heirlooms are bright, colourful, misshapen, and full of flavour - no wonder I love them. In fact, they have been so brilliant this that I have bought far more than I can possibly use.
In desperation last week I did some serious searching for recipes that would help me use up my stash. This one, from the folks at Cooking Light, helped.
The only thing I did NOT like about this pizza was the use of refrigerator pizza dough. I find store bought dough to be hard to work with - the shape of my pizza will confirm this. It is also harder to turn into a thin crust which is what we like.
The only thing I did differently was to make the pizza on the BBQ. This turned out fine until it came time for the pizza stone to cool - I think the hot summer day cooled too quickly and my stone snapped into three pieces. I guess I need to do some shopping.
Of yes, when I was looking at the pic I realized I did something else differently - I gave the finished pizza a grind with chili pepper grinder I bought when I was in Rome. Crushed chili peppers would work just as well if you like a hint of heat like us.
This really is a riff on the classic Italian Pizza Margherita -tomato, cheese, and basil. Simple, quality ingredients, which when combined yield amazing results.
Fresh Mozzarella, Heirloom Tomato, and Basil Pizza
12 ounces refrigerated fresh pizza dough
1 cup fresh basil leaves
6 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
2 (6-ounce) heirloom tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Place a pizza stone or heavy baking sheet in oven. Preheat oven to 500° (keep pizza stone or baking sheet in oven as it preheats).
Let dough stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Place basil, garlic, and 2 tablespoons oil in a mini food processor; pulse 3 times to form a paste. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil; pulse until smooth.
Roll dough into a 14-inch circle on a floured surface; pierce entire surface liberally with a fork. Carefully remove pizza stone from oven. Arrange dough on pizza stone. Spread about 2½ tablespoons basil mixture over dough. Top evenly with cheese, tomatoes, and pepper. Bake at 500° for 12 minutes or until crust is browned and crisp. Top with remaining 1½ tablespoons basil mixture; sprinkle evenly with salt. Cut into 12 slices.
Comments