Recipe: Pizza with Fresh Tomatoes

Finally our heirloom tomato plants are ready for harvesting! We are running through our regular list of ways to enjoy fresh tomatoes, but just found one more to add to the mix: homemade pizza topped with fresh tomatoes. Get ready for something delicious and easy.

I found the pizza dough recipe on AllRecipes.com aptly named “Quick and Easy Pizza Crust“. It requires no rising, which saves a ton of time. Juniper is my sous chef and together it takes us ten minutes to prep. Here is our slightly modified version of the recipe:

Quick + Easy Pizza Dough

• 2 1/2 tsp. bread yeast, or one package (.25 oz) active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 c. warm water
• 2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 c. marinara sauce and desired toppings (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add yeast and sugar. Add warm water and stir gently to dissolve. Let rest for ten minutes.
2. Add flour, salt and oil to the yeast mixture. Beat until smooth. (I use the dough hook attachment on my stand-up mixer.) Rest the dough for five minutes.
3. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to a lightly oiled pan, top with marinara sauce and bake for 8-10 minutes.
4. Remove pizza from oven and add desired toppings (see below). Bake an additional 5-7 minutes until the crust is light brown and cheese is melted.

To make the Fresh Tomato pizza, we add the following toppings:

• 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
• Fresh tomatoes cut into 1/4″ thick slices (or cherry tomatoes cut in half)
• Roasted garlic cloves (tossed in olive oil and previously roasted at 300 degrees for 20 minutes)
• Cooked chicken chunks (leftovers from a previous meal)
• Sliced black olives

Using homegrown tomatoes packs a ton of flavor into the pizza, making it the star topping. I used rich, juicy Brandywine tomatoes picked fresh that morning. Those few minutes in the oven cooked off a lot of the excess tomato water without drying the slices too much. It was a slice of heaven! Try it out and tell me how it goes!