Margherita Pizza

Hands down this is my favorite pizza of all. And I really do love pizza. The Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple runs a close second. I finally attempted to make it at home this week, and it was so delicious we ended up making it twice. Monday AND Friday. Well, I had all of this fresh basil left over so it just called for a repeat pizza night. LOL.

Friday evening Erica called while I was making the pizza. I hadn't talked to her in almost a week so I was happy to hear from her. Apparently I have trouble multi-tasking. I talked on the phone and put together the pizza, getting it ready to put in the oven. As I was sliding it in onto the pizza stone it occurred to me that something wasn't quite right, but I was still talking to Erica so I closed the oven door and didn't give it a second. Until about 2 minutes before the timer went off to tell me that the pizza was done. I made the whole thing and totally FORGOT the basil. Thats the most important part....lots and lots of fresh basil!!!! I took it out of the oven and sprinkled it heavily with chopped basil and stuck it back in, hoping for the best. And actually? It was delicious. The basil melted in the cheese and you wouldn't have been able to tell that I screwed it up....Ha.

Anyway, if you are interested here is a quick synopsis of the recipe. You don't have to be exact with it. Thats the beauty of pizza, you can be creative. It is best on a thin crust. Stephen and Hannia make their own crusts. We have attempted that, but find that the thin crust at the grocery store by "Mia" is the best. Not to mention that its infinitely quicker and easier.

Sauce: 1/4 cup of olive oil
Chopped fresh garlic (don't be stingy, the more the better)
1/8 tsp. of salt
a roma tomato chopped really finely

Let the sauce sit for about 30 minutes to let the flavors mingle, then spread it over the thin crust. Cover that with shredded mozerella cheese. Add thin slices of Roma tomatoes (as many as you can fit on there. It took me about 3 or so.). Cover the whole thing liberally with chopped fresh basil, again don't be stingy. The more the better. I sprinkle a tad more salt over the whole thing for good measure. Not much, I am stingy with the salt. I sprinkle a little more cheese on top to seal the deal and then cook at 450 degrees until the cheese is browned and bubbly. It takes about 4 roma tomatoes and 8 ounces of mozerella total. And it is OMG delicious. In fact, I am craving it again now.