Don't Tell: Pizza Margherita

Please, don't tell anyone, I made this DIVINE pizza margherita as an appetizer to our rib eye for two on Saturday.  I know, I know, didn't we already blow it out with the rib eye?  Yes!  We did!  However, we skipped lunch - so a heavy appetizer was in order.  And strangely enough, Whole Foods has an excellent selection of Italian ingredients for the perfect Margherita.  Fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, San Marzano tomatoes.  Yep - even fresh pizza dough - I went for the multi-grain dough.  This one is easy - no measuring, so get baking.


Margherita Pizza
1 pre-made multi-grain dough, Whole Foods
1 can San Marzano tomatoes, whizzed up in the processor
8 slices fresh mozzarella
1 garlic clove, minced
sprig basil
sprinkle parm (or pecorino, or asiago, or whatever)
salt
pep
oil

Pizza:
Set the oven to 500 degrees and put your baking dish in the oven to get hot.  Put a sauce pan over medium heat.  Pop in a glug of oil and the garlic.  Swirl and swirl as the garlic bubbles and begins to color.  Pour in your whizzed tomato.  Reduce to low and simmer for awhile.  Get our mozza sliced up.  Pull out your dough and spread out into a thin rectangle over foil.  Let sit - you'll see you have to stretch it and you want it to rest after you tug at it.  Pull your baking sheet out of the oven, sprinkle with cornmeal (polenta) - transfer the foil to the pan - and flatten out the dough to the full baking size (if it isn't already) spread your tomato over the dough top evenly with the mozza, sprinkle with the dry cheese and place the leaves of basil around.  Anoint with a drizzle of oil and pop into the oven until golden.

This is what it looked like before the oven.
Enjoy!