Pizza Margherita

 

I had a sudden craving for pizza on Sunday, and instead of waiting for dinner time, we decided to have it for lunch. A quick drive over to Trader Joes, and 20 minutes later, we had fresh whole wheat pizza dough ready to be used. The dough comes in a plastic bag, and already wet. You can find it in the refrigerated section, usually around the vegetables and dips section. Let the dough settle out of the bag for 20 minutes and its ready to use. We split half the dough and made a pizza for two, and used the rest to make twelve mini pizzas for snacks later. I stuffed the flattened mini pizza dough into muffin tins and added the same toppings. They crisped up better and we are definitely going to make them for the next potluck we go to.

 

The last photo on the right shows lots of extra cheese, which is a result of a fiancé who loves cheese more than he loves me and he sprinkled a handful of shredded mozzarella on top of everything, something purely optional to do.

 

I wasn't really taking measurements so the amounts listed below are best guesses. I couldn't find the baking instructions for the dough on the Trader Joes bag, so I guessed 400 degrees F and baked about 15 minutes, maybe a few extra,. until the dough had turned a little brown and the cheese had a few brown spots and was completely melted. Another option for making pizza is throwing it on a gas grill. This is a really easy way to bake your pizza without getting your home warm during the summer time and the crust always turns out amazing. If you do grill, throw the dough on the grill first, giving it time to bake, and then put the ingredients on top to melt together.

 

PIZZA MARGHERITA

 

 

 

1/2 bag of Trader Joes whole wheat pizza dough

1 cup canned tomato sauce

1 TBSP tomato paste

3 TBSP basil, julienned

1/2 roma tomato, sliced

5 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese

drizzle of olive oil

few turns of freshly cracked black pepper

 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Prepare the pizza dough by letting it settle for 20 minutes at room temperature.
3. Prepare the pizza sauce by mixing the tomato sauce with the tomato paste. Set aside.
4. Prepare basil, tomato and mozzarella and set aside.
5. On a floured surface, roll out the prepared pizza dough, moving from the center out. Make the dough as even as possible.
6. With a large spoon, scoop the pizza sauce on top of the dough, moving from center toward the outer edge. Leave about 1/2" space between the edge of the pizza dough.
7. Lay tomato slices, and then some basil, and then the mozzarella, in that order. Sprinkle remaining basil on top.
8. Drizzle a little olive oil on top of everything and add some freshly cracked black pepper.
9. Bake the pizza for at least 12-20 minutes, depending on the strength of your oven and thickness of your dough. For crispier crust, bake until the edges turn a light brown and the cheese has a few brown spots.