Saturday, June 19, 2010

Roasted Garlic, Tomato and Basil Pizza




Ingredients:

1 ball of prepared pizza dough
Cornmeal for dusting the pan (if desired)
1/3 – 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella or pizza blend cheese mix
1 head of roasted Garlic
2 tbs garlic infused olive oil (just plain olive oil works fine too)
2 small roma tomatoes – sliced
A handful of fresh basil leaves – about 15-20 depending on size

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375f.
Take large cookie sheet or pizza stone and lightly grease the pan with oil, and then dust the pan lightly with cornmeal. On a floured surface roll out pizza dough to desired thickness, move dough to pan and press into place if needed, or if you prefer you can twist the edges with your thumb and forefinger to make a crust. This works best if you are using a round pizza pan or stone. Using a large spoon or spatula spread out the sauce. Sprinkle cheese evenly over crust. Next take the head of roasted garlic and gently squeeze out the cloves, they will be squishy so this will be a little messy. Spread the garlic as best as you can over the cheese. Place on desired amount of tomatoes and drizzle with oil. Place in oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly. If you want your basil a little wilted, you can add the basil 1-2 minutes before removing from the oven, no longer because the strength of the flavor will lessen the more you cook it. If you want the basil fresh (which is the most common way) simply place desired amount of basil leaves on pizza once you have removed the pizza from the oven (I did a little of both).