Everyone will be gathering at my house for the next few days – great to have them home – but what to fix? Obviously work at the store takes most of my time these days. One of my favorite things to make for my gathering clan is homemade pizza. Using a pizza stone can make anyone’s oven turn out pizzas like a pro. The other tip is using cornmeal to dust on the stone. Gives that crisp texture to the dough without overcooking.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil,
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves,chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley,chopped
- 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 (or premade dough -available at Publix)
- 1 (8-ounce) ball fresh mozzarella
- 1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves
- fresh grated parmesan (reggiano)
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Sprinkle cornmeal over pizza stone. Begin by making the tomato sauce. In a large saute pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the minced garlic, parsley 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. Set aside
On floured surface stretch and shape the dough into a 13″ circle.Transfer the dough onto stone. Smear with tomato sauce then tear up the mozzarella and scatter it evenly over the top of the pizza dough. 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, grate fresh parmesan cheese, then bake in the hot oven until golden and bubbly, about 15 to 18 minutes
- Remove from the oven, cut into slices and serve.
