Pizza Margherita

Pizza, pizza, pizza...who doesn't love it, right? I know we sure do. It's probably the number one food enjoyed in my house. Like many American families we have pizza almost every week. So, I try to mix things up by making different types. This time of year, pizza margherita is in heavy rotation around here since we always have an abundance of fresh tomatoes and basil. If there is such a thing a summertime pizza, this is it!

Just a thin coating of the tomato sauce...too much here makes for a messy pizza.


Add the cheese and tomatoes on top. My husband actually prefers this without the fresh tomato slices, so feel free to omit.


Fresh out of the oven...how good does that look?


Mmmmmmmm....pizza!


Ingredients:

1 batch of your favorite pizza dough

1 14-ounce can peeled whole San Marzano (such as Cento or Muri Glen) tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh oregano, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
8 - 10oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 tomato, sliced (optional)
large basil leaves, torn into pieces

Directions:

Set a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 500°, allowing at least 30 minutes for the stone to heat. Pulse the canned tomatoes in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Stir in the oregano and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, sugar and season with salt and pepper.
On a lightly floured surface, stretch out ball of dough and transfer to a floured pizza peel, adding flour where the dough sticks. Brush olive oil all around the edge of the dough.

Spread the tomato sauce over the dough to within 1 inch of the edge. Lay the cheese slices over the pizza and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the fresh tomato slices on top of the cheese and slide the pizza onto the stone. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 8-10 minutes. Scatter the basil on top and let stand for 3 minutes before serving.

Source: adapted from Food and Wine