Caprese Pizza

I thought I was making margherita pizza, but it turns out traditional margherita pizza doesn't have fresh tomatoes on it. No matter! It's caprese pizza, then! No matter what you call it, it's delicious and beautiful.

Notes: Don't skimp on the tomatoes here. Go for the super fresh and flavorful ones. I would have used heirloom tomatoes, but the store was out. I wouldn't try to use small tomatoes like cherry or grape. You'd need a lot of them and you'll have trouble slicing them thin.

You want to make sure to get the excess liquid off the mozzarella and the tomatoes before you bake the pizza. Make sure to pat the mozzarella dry before you slice it and lay the tomato slices on paper towels.

The mozzarella will cook more evenly if you let it come closer to room temperature before you bake the pizza, so take it out of the fridge early.

The fresh basil goes on after the pizza is done. It gives the added freshness. Also, the basil may burn in the oven if you add it before you bake the pizza. If you plan to have leftovers, only sprinkle fresh basil on the pieces you're going to eat that night. Put the rest in the fridge and then sprinkle it on the leftover pieces after you heat them.

Ingredients:
1 ball homemade pizza dough
1 large or 2 small tomatoes
1 large or 2 medium balls fresh mozzarella
2 small bunches of basil leaves
Your favorite store bought pizza sauce
Dried basil
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Heat oven to 525. Position one rack at the top and one rack at the bottom. Take the mozzarella out of the fridge.

Thinly slice the tomato and lay each slice on a few paper towels to get rid of excess liquid. Lay a paper towel on top.

Pat the mozzarella dry with paper towels and thinly slice.

Roll the pizza crust out and put it on a foil-covered pan or pizza stone. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce over the dough. Lay the slices of mozzarella evenly on the dough. Top with the tomato slices. Season with salt, pepper, and dried basil.

Bake for 8 minutes on the bottom rack and 8 minutes on the top rack until the crust starts to turn golden brown and the cheese starts to brown and bubble.

While the pizza is cooking stack up the basil leaves and cut them into a chiffonade.

When the pizza is done, sprinkle the fresh basil on top. Serve and enjoy!