Caprese Pizza

I think it comes as no surprise to you all how much I love cheese. String, shredded, or in a block, I love it. Needless to say, when I was in charge of dinner the other night, and picked the oh-so-predictable theme of Italian, I had to make pizza. But ever since we have purchased a pizza stone, it has made the pizza taste so much better. The cheese cooks perfectly and gets a beautiful crunch on it. The trick with the stone is that you preheat the stone in the oven so it cooks the pizza (or bread or whatever) from both the top and bottom. If you're bored with your meals, invest in a pizza stone (or go to your hardware store and purchase a plank of unglazed quarry tile such as terra cotta and turn your oven into a fancy Italian pizza oven!). Anyways, cheese. Yes, cheese. MmMmM gosh I just love it. And I was in a particularly good mood so I make half of the pizza vegan and half normal. I know it's usually called a margherita pizza, but I called mine caprese because i did NOT use garlic. After the bruschetta i made, I didn't want to anger anyone with more garlic. If you're looking for a light yet very satisfying meal, go with a great caprese pizza and PLEASE invest in a pizza stone!


What you'll need:
1 whole wheat pizza dough
3 roma tomatoes
Whole log part skim mozzarella log
Organic tomato basil marinara
1/4 cup basil leaves (FRESH!!!)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup olive oil


1. Place your dough in a bowl with the olive oil, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside for about an hour (the dough will rise and cook more evenly).
2. Slice your basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella.

the rectangular cheese is the vegan mozzarella

3. Once dough has set, flour a large area to roll out the dough until it just about fits on your stone (or cookie sheet).

4. Follow directions for your pizza stone (if not using one, just follow the directions on your dough). 
5. Place the dough on the stone and begin with a VERY THIN layer of sauce (you don't want to bit into a huge chunk of sauce, it's not pasta!), then evenly spread out the tomatoes and cheese.

6. Finally, sprinkle the julienned basil all over and bake!

half vegan (on right) and normal (on left)

ok, maybe sprinkle some parmesan, too :)

7. Once cooked, let sit for a few minutes (or else the cheese will become a mess!) before serving.

enjoy :)