Roasted Tomato Basil Pizza

I know what you're thinking: Mandy is blogging on a Saturday night. The girl needs to get off the computer, and get outside!

I promise I'm just killing time waiting for the sun to go down so I can go running in less-than-97-degree-weather. It's H.O.T. out there. 

Originally I wanted to make this pizza earlier this week. Then I realized I only had a couple cups of flour left in my stash... certainly not enough to prepare my homemade pizza dough. Unfortunately, this meant we had to wait until our next trip to the grocery store (Fridays) to make this crazy-delicious pizza. It was thankfully worth the wait.

I have never roasted my own tomatoes. I have now learned what a huge mistake it was avoiding it!

Roasting tomatoes in the oven smells incredible, and it makes such a delicious base for pizza! Who needs sauce when you can just roast tomatoes, and smash them all over pizza dough? With the addition of thick mozzarella slices and basil, this pizza is complete. .

"another caprese style dish?" you might ask. (minus the basalmic). The answer is: absolutely! And I'll keep 'em comin' until my basil and tomato plants die in protest. Until then, we're going to make some pretty bad-A pizzas, sandwiches, and traditional Caprese salads to use up every bit of those lovely plants of mine.

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Roasted Tomato Basil Pizza

1 batch homemade pizza dough (about 12 oz)
2 lbs small/medium-sized fresh tomatoes, slices in half, de-stemmed.
4 cloves fresh garlic, chopped (pieces not too big, but not minced)
3 T EVOO
1 T thyme
1 t bay leaves, chopped
salt and pepper
8 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 bunch of fresh basil
Parmesan cheese

Prepare pizza dough. While it's rising, prepare roasted tomatoes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Roasting tomatoes: Line a non-stick baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a large bowl, toss together tomatoes, garlic, EVOO, thyme, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture in center of pan, and arrange in a single layer (doesn't matter if they're facing up or down). Roast in oven for 1 hour, checking midway to make sure the garlic isn't burning. After the hour, turn off oven and leave tomatoes in oven until oven cools completely. Drain tomatoes of excess juices.

Making Pizza: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll and stretch pizza dough on large (greased and coated with a little corn meal if desired) pizza pan. Prick dough with fork, and pre-cook about 8 minutes (depending on what pizza dough recipe you're using).

Once pre-cooked, spread tomatoes over dough, and top with sliced mozzarella. Bake pizza for 10-20 minutes until the pizza is baked to your liking (the top should be slightly browned and bubbling). Remove from oven and top with fresh basil leaves and grated Parmesan Cheese.

*We served this pizza with a salad and fresh peach slices.

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