Fresh Tomato Pizza

Someone had way too much time on her hands Saturday afternoon while her husband played in a golf tournament. That's right: this girl did. 

OK, so I didn't bother to put three loads of laundry away or clean up my craft room, but I swear I was productive.

I made us some new place mats for our dinner table, picked tomatoes and peppers, whipped up a batch of fresh tomato sauce and cooked a homemade pizza for when the husband got home. Maybe I didn't clean much while the husband was out sweating on the golf course, but I made fresh tomato sauce and homemade pizza! That's gotta count for something, don't you think?

Fresh Tomato Pizza

Serves 4

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

about 4 tomatoes, chopped

1 chile pepper

a dash of Italian herbs

a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

fresh basil leaves (some chopped and some whole)

Heat the olive oil over medium heat for about a minute. Add in the garlic and heat until its fragrant, but keep an eye on it: You don't want it to burn!

In a food processor, chop the tomatoes and pepper until you reach your desired consistency. (The husband isn't a huge fan of chunky sauce, so I pureed our vegetables quite a bit.)

Add the tomatoes to the olive oil and garlic mixture, stir in the cheese and herbs, and about 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil. (Leave the leaves for the final dish.)

Bring the sauce to a boil and then simmer until it has thickened a bit, at least 30 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. (I usually cook our pizza at 475 or even 500, but it was just tooooo hot to do that last weekend.)

Lightly spray a pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with a light dusting of cornmeal. Spread a batch of thin-crust pizza on the pan (and keep half of the original recipe in the fridge for later). Top the crust with 1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese and as much sauce as you'd like. (I kept some off to the side for dipping.) 

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is a light brown color and everything has melted nicely. Top with some fresh basil leaves and enjoy!