Recipe 14: Pizza Margherita

Growing up, Friday night was pizza night. This Friday was no different in my household. I decided to make a pizza margherita. I also learned that margherita is not italian for a tequila filled drink, but rather italian for daisy! And margherita was a queen of italy in the late 1800's. who knew? That might explain why pizza margherita is one of my favorites! I do have a daisy dog who thinks she is a princess.

Materials
~ 1 refrigerated pizza crust
~ cornmeal
~ olive oil spray
~ 1 clove garlic
~ 4-5 roma tomatoes, sliced thinly
~ 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
~ 1/4-1/2 cup basil
~ salt and pepper to taste
~ olive oil
~ balsamic vinegar

Methods
Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a little oil on the top of a baking sheet. Dust sheet with cornmeal. Spread out the pizza crust. Bake for about 8 minutes and remove from oven.



Spray the surface of the crush lightly with olive oil. Cut garlic clove in half and rub garlic on pizza crust. Arrange the tomatoes on the crust, remaining 1/2 in. clear of the edge of the crust.


Sprinkle cheese evenly across the tomatoes. Slice basil into thin pieces and spread over surface. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix equal parts balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl. sprinkle vinaigrette over pizza.. Bake for 12-15 minutes until cheese melts and beings to brown. Slice and enjoy!

Results

Two big thumbs up. I've said it before, pizza is comfort food for me and this totally hit the spot. It was a great Friday night meal. I think next time I'll add even more basil. One of these days I want to make my own dough instead of the prefab stuff. I accidentally forgot to spray my pan before I placed my pizza crust, but because of the cornmeal we had very few sticking issues :)

This will be a million times more yummy come summer when fresh tomatoes and basil are available. Add a little fresh, sliced mozzarella instead of prefab shredded and it would be absolutely amazing. note to self: make pizza margherita this summer. :)