Tonight's Dinner: Roman-Style Pizza with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

This was tonight's dinner. I used my favorite pizza dough recipe instead of making the crust dough from scratch following this recipe. This is my adapted recipe as I do not include the recipe for the dough (I promised a friend a long time ago I wouldn't share her family recipe online so I am keeping to that) but the one included is good too. Or use your favorite.

I roasted the tomatoes yesterday and let them cool. I refrigerated them. Today I took them out and let them come to room temperature, I sprinkled them with a touch of the Penzey's Pizza Seasoning before adding them to the pizza topping.

This was one of the best pizza's I have ever made. My hubby loved it. He usually complains. That makes this a winner. I also used fresh mozzarella, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with the Penzey's Pizza Seasoning instead of the fresh basil (I ran out 2 days ago). It was terrific.

Roman-Style Pizza with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

1 recipe pizza dough*

1.25 lb cherry or grape tomatoes

Freshly ground black pepper

Semolina, for dusting

2/3 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano, divided

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (about 8 oz), or

2 cups buffalo mozzarella, thinly sliced

Chopped fresh basil**

Prep work: roast tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper in a 500 degree oven for 10-12 minutes just until the skins start to crack. Let cool (can be refrigerated overnight).

Slice (or grate) mozzarella cheese.

Cut dough into 2 even pieces. Roll each one out to a 13”x9” rectangle. Brush with a bit of olive oil. Preheat oven with pizza stone in oven. Sprinkle semolina on pizza peel. Place one pizza crust on to the pizza peel. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, mozzarella, throw some of the tomatoes over top, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with some of the chopped basil. Place in oven for 9-10 minutes until cheese is melted and the top of the pizza browns a little bit. Remove from oven. Place on a wire rack for a few minutes.

Slice into 8 smaller rectangles and serve.

Risa’s notes:

*original recipe gives you specific ingredients for the dough. I used my favorite recipe.

**original calls for fresh basil, I used Penzey’s Pizza Seasoning instead.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Source: Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2011 issue

Posted by RisaG 5/6/11