I love making pizza – I love any home-made bread. The smell of yeasty goodness is intoxicating and what is so great about pizza is the endless combinations and possibilities. Tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil – perfect! Sausage and caramelized onions – yes please! A layer of tomato sauce, a slathering of emerald pesto, some freshly grated mozzarella and thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes – my new favorite!
I have been trying to hold on to the last little bit of summer we have left, although I love the fall it always feels like summer slips away too fast. Nothing says summer more than bright, flavorful heirloom tomatoes.
With this pizza the cheese has just enough time to melt and bubble but the tomatoes still taste fresh. The quick and easy dough is perfection for thin crust pizza lovers. I just want to eat it all the time – seriously. You might be thinking that pizza dough from scratch takes too much time but at only an hour and a half (one hour rise time – no work) it’s totally worth it. Come home, throw ingredients together (5 minutes), let rise for one hour (relax), press air out of dough and let rest (15 minutes), roll out, top with your heart’s desire and bake (10 minutes), eat and be happy!
Pesto Heirloom Tomato Pizza
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes one 10″-12″ pizza
Dough
6 tablespoons warm water
2 tablespoons white wine
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups flour
cornmeal for dusting pan
Whisk wine, water and yeast in a medium bowl until yeast has dissolved. Add honey, salt and olive oil and stir. Add flour and no matter how dry it looks, work it with a spoon and your fingers until it comes together as a dough.
Sprinkle some flour on the counter and knead the dough for a minute or two.
Coat the inside of a dry bowl with a drizzle of olive oil. Put the dough in, cover it with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let it rise for an hour or up to two, until it is doubled.
Preheat your oven to 500. If you have a pizza stone, sprinkle it with cornmeal and put it in the oven. Otherwise, sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal (if your baking sheet has a lip flip it over and use the bottom).
Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured counter and gently deflate the dough with the palm of your hands. Form it into a ball and let it rest on a floured spot covered with an upended bowl. In 15 minutes, it is ready to roll out.
Do so on the floured counter until pretty darn thin, then lift it onto a cornmeal-sprinkled baking sheet or pizza paddle. Add a layer of tomato sauce, sprinkle on both cheeses, dot some pesto on and place a few slices of tomato.
Slide the pizza from the paddle to your preheated pizza stone, or just put the baking sheet in the oven as is.
Bake for about 10 minutes, checking at 7. Slice and serve immediately.
Tomato Sauce
Makes enough for one pizza.
4 roma or other medium sized tomatoes
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Splash of red wine
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Bring medium pot of water to a boil. Poach the tomatoes for one minute only, and then drain them. As soon as they are cooled off enough that you can touch them, peel them. The peels should come right off. If they don’t, make a slit in the skins. This always does the trick.
Drain and dry the pot. Put it back on the burner over medium heat. Pour in olive oil and let it heat completely before adding the garlic and stirring it for a minute. Add the red pepper flakes and stir it for anther minute. You do not want the garlic to brown. Put the peeled tomatoes in the pot, along with the wine, sugar and salt. Break the tomatoes up with your spoon.
Let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down. Carefully taste without burning your tongue and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Emerald Green Pesto
Adapted from Food to Live By
Makes about 1 cup
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 packed cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 packed cup fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for storing
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/2 cup finely and freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Place the garlic, basil, parsley and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. With the machine running constantly, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, until the pesto is smooth. Transfer the pesto to a small bowl. Add salt and Parmesan cheese and stir to combine.
Freshly made pesto will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator. Preserve its green color by pouring a thin film of olive oil over the pesto and store in an air tight container.
Ok – I’m already drooling reading over this pizza recipe. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous, too! Thanks!
Emily made this pizza for Auntie J and I and it has to be the most flavorable and light pizza I have had. Can’t go wrong with this recipe.