Margarita Pizza

I found this recipe from the Food Network website. It was good, but not the best--or anywhere close to that. It's really easy though, and tastes better than frozen margarita pizza's.

The Margarita Pizza is particularly interesting since it's a very basic pizza composed of tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil. The history behind this pizza is that it was named after Margherita of Savoy in 1889 who loved this dish, which was previously considered a poor man's food. The pizza is supposed to be symbolic of the Italian flag in it's colors (red tomato, white mozzarella and green basil).

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to grease pan
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand crushed (recommended: San Marzano)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 recipe fresh pizza dough, recipe follows
• 1 (8-ounce) ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, water drained
• 1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put a jelly roll pan or a half sheet pan in the oven.

Begin by making the tomato sauce. In a large saute pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the minced garlic, thyme and oregano. Cook until just fragrant then add the crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Lower the heat and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavor. Shut off the heat and set aside.

Take the preheated jelly roll pan out of the oven and drizzle some olive oil over the entire surface. Cut the dough into 2 pieces and reserve 1 piece for another use. Stretch the pizza dough out so it is just bigger than the pan, then lay it inside the pan, so the dough comes up the sides to form a crust on the rim. Smear with tomato sauce then tear up the mozzarella and scatter it evenly over the top of the pie. Tear the basil leaves, spread them over the top and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Give it a final season with salt and pepper, to taste, then bake in the hot oven until golden and bubbly, about 15 to 18 minutes

Remove from the oven, cut into slices and serve.

P.S. Pictures for all previous posts coming soon--my USB cord has been taken hostage.