Tomato Basil Pizza

Never have I ever made pizza before. I know, shocking. You'd think out of everything that'd be the ONE THING I have made. But, I hadn't.

Now I have. And I intend to repeat the process.

So easy and delicious. Homemade pizza doesn't make me feel like I'm leaking grease from all pores and need to go run around the block a bazillion times.

So, here it is!

Ingredients:

Dough
- 1/4 C warm water
- 1 packet of yeast

- 2 C unbleached, all-purpose flour
*Or you could do 1 C all-purpose, 1 C whole wheat. I didn't this time, but I intend to next time!*
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 C water, room temperature
- 1 tbsp olive oil

Pizza Topping
- 1 lb fresh tomatoes, thickly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, quartered
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese

- 1 tbsp + 1 to 2 tsp olive oil
- Fresh Basil
- 1 tsp oregano, fresh or otherwise
- Parmesan Cheese
- salt or sea salt


Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 450.
- Place your sliced tomatoes and garlic on a prepared cooking sheet (lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper... the latter probably works better).

- Drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil and toss gently. Then sprinkle them with salt (I used sea salt).
- Cook the tomatoes for 30 minutes. Check on them halfway through. If they are browning too much, carefully turn them over with a spatula. (No picture, sorry!)
- Turn the oven off and let the tomatoes cool.

- While your tomatoes are cooling down, pour your yeast into your 1/2 C warm water. Let sit for around five minutes, until the water is bubbly.
- Mix together your flour and salt.
- Add your 1.25 C room temperature water to your yeast mix.
- Carefully add a little of the yeast mix at a time. I ended up using about 3/4 to 2/3 of it. Mix your dough accordingly. Should be just the slightest bit "sticky". DO NOT use all of your yeast mix.

-Preheat your oven to 350.
- Knead the dough into a fabulous pizza-esque shape and place on your prepared pan.

- If you haven't already, remove your tomatoes from the oven.
- Drizzle your dough with 1 to 2 tsp olive oil.
- Carefully arrange your tomatoes onto the dough.

- Add your freshly sliced mozzarella next, followed by the basil and oregano, and then top it with parmesan cheese (as much as you desire).

- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until desired crispiness.

Don't burn your mouth on the cheese! Let it cool down a bit before you gobble it down.

Recipe for the crust adapted from: The Curvy Carrot.

Inspiration for the Pizza as a whole came from: David Lebovitz.