Pizza with Pesto, Fresh Tomatoes, and Mozzarella
- 6 ounces grated fresh mozzarella (about 1 cups)
- 3 plum tomatoes
- 1 pound pizza dough (thawed if frozen)
- all-purpose flour for dusting
- 3 tablespoons basil pesto
- a large pizza stone (at least 14 inches across)
- a baker's peel
- At least 1 hour before baking pizza, set stone on lowest rack of oven (if you have a gas stove, stone can go directly on oven floor) and preheat oven to 500F.
- Coarsely grate mozzarella and cut tomatoes crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices.
- On a floured surface with your hands pat out and stretch dough evenly into a 12-inch round, keeping hands flat.
- (Do not handle dough more than necessary.
- If dough is sticky, dust it lightly with flour.)
- Dust baker's peel with flour and carefully transfer inch round.
- Jerk peel once or twice and, if dough is sticking, lift dough and sprinkle flour underneath it, reshaping dough if necessary.
- Spread pesto over dough leaving a 1-inch border and sprinkle with cheese.
- Arrange tomato slices over cheese and season with salt and pepper.
- Line up far edge of peel with far edge of stone and tilt peel, jerking it gently to start pizza moving.
- Once edge of pizza touches stone, quickly pull back peel to completely transfer pizza to stone.
- Bake pizza until dough is crisp and brown, about 10 to 12 minutes, and transfer with peel to a cutting board.
- Cut pizza into slices and serve immediately.
mozzarella, tomatoes, pizza, flour, basil pesto, pizza stone
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pizza-with-pesto-fresh-tomatoes-and-mozzarella-101994 (may not work)