Tomato Mozzarella Pizza

Last minute get together are always the best, don’t you think?

This past week end, we have enjoyed the hottest temperatures so far in Vancouver. So hot, that we could stay, without a sweater, up to midnight, on the patio, without a chill. Big deal you’re saying? It is a HUGE deal!!! Obviously, you haven’t followed my constant ranting about the weather…
Anyway, I had plan to make this delicious classic pizza for us and a friend. Once settling on the patio, we saw our next door neighbors getting the table ready for their outdoor dinner and we invited them to join (my pizzas are always too big for 3 anyway…). They had prepared a beautiful salad already, so they just brought it over, and it went perfectly well together. Then we waved at the other neighbors from 2 houses down, on their roof (they have been working on it for the past month, poor guys with this heat) and invited them too!!! We ended up being 7 of us on the patio enjoying pizza, fresh rosé wine and casual talk with cooling breeze and a summer sky full of stars. It was nice!!!! And best of all, totally unplanned!

With such a delicious classic pizza, you’ll attract anyone to your yard! Gooey cheese and his BFF tomato are such wonderful topings for pizza, you can’t ever go wrong, and you can never have too much of either!!!
I have been making home made pizza dough ever since I got a bread machine, never before that. It is a appliance I couldn’t live without now. Just toss in there your ingredients and forget about it!
Then when I started typing this recipe, I wrote “optional” next to a few ingredients, only to realize how useless… See, homemade pizza is like a white canvas waiting for your creation ( that’s pretty, no?), put whatever you want on it!!! I’m only sharing this recipe hoping that it will inspire you to create your own as well!!!

So enjoy and let me know: what is your favorite toppings combo???
Bon appétit!!!

Ingredients (6-8)

For the dough

2 cups white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or all white, if you prefer)
1 cup water
2 T olive oil
1 t salt
1 t sugar
1 t dry bread yeast
1 t Italian seasoning

For the sauce

1 can (5.5 oz) tomato paste
1 fresh tomato
2 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t sugar
1 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t salt
pepper

Toppings

2 T Dijon mustard
2 cups shredded dried mozzarella cheese (the supermarket kind)
4-6 fresh tomatoes, sliced
2 fresh mozzarella cheese balls
6 slices of prosciutto (omit for vegetarian version)
2 T tapenade
sliced sun-dried tomatoes
fresh oregano
fresh basil
salt
pepper

Instructions

For the dough

Place all ingredients in a bread machine. Start the “dough” program. It should take about 1h30. If you don’t have a bread machine, you can follow those instructions: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-pizza-dough-2
At the end of the program, preheat oven to 450. Flatten your dough on a surface sprinkled with flour, to whatever shape you’ll like. I used a baking tray about 11″ * 17″. Lightly oil and flour your baking tray/dish, before placing the dough.

For the sauce

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor until well blended.

The toppings

Spread the mustard on the dough, then spread the tomato sauce.Cover with the shredded mozzarella.
Add the sliced tomatoes to cover the whole surface, the sliced fresh mozzarella cheese, prosciutto and sun-dried tomatoes.
Distribute evenly the tapenade on the fresh cheese, sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano.
Bake for about 15 min, until edges are golden, cheese bubbly, and the crust can be easily lifted from the pan. Sprinkle with fresh sliced basil before serving.

The beautiful salad that my neighbour brought over: