May 20, 2015
At Home with Friends

2 comments

Basil, Fontina & Sugar Plum Tomato Pizza

If you read my recipe for White Pizza, you know how easy it is to make great pizza at home. The question now becomes what type of ingredients will you use for toppings. The choices are limitless!

This is totally different from the White Pizza and different from a typical cheese and tomato pizza.

Most cheese and tomato pizzas have tomato sauce on the bottom and cheese on top. This has cheese on the bottom and tomatoes and basil on top. If your guests are more the traditional pizza types, try this one!

BASIL, FONTINA, CHERRY TOMATO PIZZA
EVENT: DING-DONG! The Termites Are Gone!
YIELD: 1 Roughly 13 X 16” Pizza = 8 Servings

Ingredients
1 pound pizza dough (thawed if frozen) at room temperature
1 ¼ cup freshly grated fontina cheese *
2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil
20 tiny sugar plum or cherry tomatoes, halved or sliced
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Fresh pepper to taste

Equipment
Large baking sheet
Parchment paper

Directions
1. Place rack on lowest shelf of the oven. Put heavy baking sheet (14 X 17”) on the lowest rack. Preheat oven to 500 degrees — with baking sheet in the oven.

2. Stretch out dough on a lightly floured surface and transfer to a tray lined with parchment paper. Prick the dough all over with a fork.

3. Slide dough on parchment sheet, onto hot baking sheet.

4. Bake until top is puffed and golden, approximately 6 minutes.

5. Carefully remove entire pan from oven. Pan is very hot!

6. If there are any large bubbles, prick with a fork and gently push down.

7. Sprinkle cheese evenly over pizza. Top with cherry tomatoes.

8. Sprinkle fresh basil evenly over pizza.

9. Sprinkle sea salt on pizza, especially around edges.

10. Drizzle with olive oil.

11. Bake approximately 6 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted.

12. Remove from oven.

13. Top with fresh ground pepper.

14. Make sure you take a piece just to taste test because it will all be gone.

* A NOTE: I buy the fontina cheese at Costco.