This looked so good when I pulled it from the oven tonight I just had to take a picture.
Roasted Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella & Pesto Pizza
8-10 Roma tomatoes, quartered the long way
1/3 cup olive oil
2 TBS. chopped garlic
10-12 grinds of black pepper
salt to taste
1 lb. fresh pizza dough (I purchase at a local pizza shop)
4-5 Tablespoons basil pesto
1 lb. fresh mozzarella, sliced
Pre-heat oven to 450F. In a large bowl lightly toss together the quartered tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, pepper and salt. Pour out onto a foil lined baking pan and roast 25-30 minutes until tomatoes are soft and have started to caramelize. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly or completely.
Increase oven temperature to 500F. Stretch pizza dough to 18-inches round and place on lightly greased pizza pan. Spread a very thin layer of pesto* over the dough leaving a half-inch border around the edge. Evenly distribute mozzarella and then the roasted tomatoes. Brush the half-inch border with some of the roasted tomato-garlic oil that remains in the baking pan.
Bake pizza on lowest rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes until crust is brown and cheese is bubbly delicious. Let rest for five minutes before cutting.
Enjoy!
*Pesto layer needs to be very, very thin otherwise it will be extremely oily and the cheese and tomatoes will be floating on grease, just not a good pizza.
