white pizza w/ campari tomatoes

This pizza was just serendipitous.

One of those nights when I told the GS we had NO FOOD IN THE WHOLE HOUSE and I had no idea what we were going to eat for dinner.

Personally I find that pizza is a good option in these scenarios because I almost always have flour and yeast. And in these great United States, water is also a given. Let’s remember how lucky we are for that, please and thank you.

Crust- check. Had a ball of fresh mozzarella (they must have been BOGO) so cheese- check. I almost always have tomatoes, too, because they are generally one of my favorite foods. Many days you will find my afternoon snack is a sliced tomato with the Kraft Tuscan House Italian dressing (could drink the stuff).

The basic pizza dough recipe I’ve been going with is:

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup hot water (like hot from the tap)

3 cups all purpose flour

salt & olive oil

I think back in the day I was conservative on my water temperature, but it should be pretty warm. Pour it over the yeast and honey and let it bloom for a few minutes. Then add the flour in increments, letting the dough hook do its magic.

One thing I’ve been doing recently is adding a few tablespoons of olive oil, especially if it looks like you miiiiight need just a bit more water. Add oil instead. Let it rise in a warm place for an hour or so.

While this is happening, prep the tomatoes. They don’t actually have to be campari tomatoes, but if you haven’t had these they are so yummy. They’re larger than a cherry or grape tomato but still small enough that I find it acceptable to just eat them whole.

Now the issue with putting tomato slices straight on a pizza is that you can end up with a puddle of water/tomato juice on top and no one wants that sogginess. So for this particular ‘za I sliced my camparis, put them on a baking sheet, drizzled some olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper, and broiled for about 15 minutes. It dehydrated them a bit. And this method would work with any kind of tomato.

Preheat the oven to 425, with the pizza stone inside so that it gets all toasty. Once the oven is preheated, pull out the stone. Sprinkle the bottom with corn meal. Spread your crust over the stone. Drizzle on some olive oil. I actually happened to have some basting oil that had herbs in it that I used, but regular olive oil is fine.

Then add a bunch of garlic. Like 5 or 6 minced cloves- go crazy.

Spread out the sliced fresh mozzarella, then your roasted tomatoes. Sprinkle with a healthy handful of dried oregano, Italian seasoning, or any other flavoring. I like a little Kosher salt here, too.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and slightly brown on top. Add some fresh basil over the top and serve. Maybe some grated Parm because more cheese is always a good thing.

I’ve now made this twice because the first time I thought it was a throwaway dinner and didn’t take any pictures, so I had to do it again to share it with you all. And OMG we inhaled the whole thing. Two people, one pizza. It’s that good.