Tomato Pizza

Homemade pizza’s have become a favorite of mine.  They are easy to make and the diversiy of ingredients you can use, means that you can please just about anyone’s tastes.  For this recipe, I show you how to make what I’m calling my “Chunky Tomato Pizza”.  It’s a take on a standard margarita pizza, but instead of a smooth tomato sauce, I keep large chunks of diced tomato in the sauce.  As a result you get bites packed with tomato flavor as you eat the pizza…a tomato lovers dream.   Give it tray, and I hope you enjoy it!

Recipe Overview and Keys to Success

To make the best Tomato Pizza just make sure to do the following:

1. For all my pizzas I use a very hot oven…about 500 degrees.  If possible you should also use a pizza stone, but if you don’t have one, use your heaviest sheet pan or tray – the thicker the better
2. This pizza, by definition is for the tomato lover, so go easy on the cheese, or there simply be too much topping for the crust
3. By all means make  your pizza dough if you’d like, but I find it hard, and my local pizza shop is very willing to sell me the raw dough, which is what I do every time.

RECIPE FOR CHUNKY TOMATO PIZZA

• 1 16 ounce can diced (or whole tomatoes)
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 shallot diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 3 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• 1 medium pizza dough
• 1 8 ounce fresh mozzarella ball (you can also use grated)
• Dry polenta or grits to roll out the pizza dough
• 5 – 6 fresh basil leaves

• Bring a sauce pan to temperature over medium heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom
• Add the shallot and garlic, and sauté until softened. About 5 minutes
• Add the diced tomato (if using whole, crush the tomatoes in your hands)
• Add the oregano, season with salt and pepper and simmer, covered for about 20 – 30 minutes
• Add the parmesan cheese, and stir it in.  If the sauce is too thin, continue to simmer uncovered to thicken.  To thick, simply add water to thin it out.
• Allow the sauce to cool as you roll out the dough
• Heat your oven with the pizza stone inside to 500 degrees for about 20 minutes to ensure it is hot
• Stretch the dough out as thinly as you’d like, I generally like it as thin as I can get it, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
• Spread the dry polenta on a cutting board, and then lay the stretched dough on top of the polenta – that will make I much easier to slide off the cutting board and onto the pizza stone
• Spread the sauce over the dough, in a fairly thin layer.  Freeze your left over sauce for another time
• Cut rounds from the mozzarella ball (or you can also use grated if you’d like) and spread them around the pizza evenly, keeping large gaps between each round
• Lay out the fresh basil leaves in a similar way
• Now slide the pizza off the cutting board and onto the hot pizza stone, and allow it to bake until the cheese is fully melted and the crust a bit crispy
• Remove the pizza stone from the oven and allow the pizza to rest on the stone for about 5 minutes
• Cut up your chunky tomato pizza and enjoy!

Pizza.  Tomatoes.  You gotta go with a Sangiovese with this meal.  The light tannins and good acid in the wine work really well with food, and there is a natural affinity between Sangiovese and tomato.  You don’t need to break the bank, and a simple Chianti will get absolutely perfect.