Epicure Recipe Card #6: Mozzarella with Fresh Tomato Pesto

I usually have a few of these recipe cards cooked and photographed so that I have some material up my sleeve for those weeks where I either get waylaid by life or am seriously lacking in motivation. Last week I didn’t post a recipe card (due to pre-wedding madness) and this week I had nothing. So over the weekend I asked Monsieur Poisson to choose a recipe card which he’d like to eat and I would make that. He chose this one but followed it up by saying he didn’t feel like anything cool and salad-y. And thus the great mangling of a perfectly fine recipe card began! Out the other end came a margherita-esque pizza.

That classic Italian tricolour combination of basil, mozzarella and tomato works so well on pizza, tossed with pasta or simply as insalata Calabrese. I unfortunately left my grocery shopping a little late and couldn’t get my mits on any fresh mozzarella balls. I had to use packaged cherry bocconcini instead and somehow didn’t put enough of it on the pizza as well! Of course this flavour combination is better in spring when the tomatoes and milk are sweet and the basil is extra green and fragrant, but it’s pretty good otherwise as well – the Italians really know their stuff.


Pizza Margherita (makes 4 medium-sized pizzas)
(adapted from The Age – Epicure 50 Best Recipe Cards, recipe by Jill Dupleix)

Ingredients:
·         1 quantity of Pizza Dough
·         pizza sauce – made from 1 tbs tomato paste, 1 tbs tomato passata, salt & pepper to taste
·         1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
·         mozzarella/bocconcini, sliced (don’t put too much on or the pizza will be weighed down and soggy)
·         2 tbs shredded basil
·         small basil leaves for serving

Method:
  1. Divide the dough into four balls and roll each out on a floured surface to desired thickness. Prick all over with a fork before spreading on a thin layer of pizza sauce.
  2. Arrange tomato slices on top of pizzas evenly and sparingly before scattering over shredded basil and topping with cheese slices. Season.
  3. Bake for around 5-7 minutes at the hottest setting on your oven (around 270°C on mine) until toppings are cooked and cheese is bubbling. Remove from oven, scatter with small basil leaves and let sit for a couple of minutes before slicing to serve.
happy cooking!

10 comments:

  1. yaaaarrrmy! i love margherita pizzas!

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  2. Ha, great mangling! Feel free to mangle a recipe on me anytime. You think I'd be sick of seeing pizzas after the great Pizza Pie Incident but this has my mouth watering.

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  3. margherita pizzas are very underrated, esp when ordering with friends. I always get the "margherita's are a rip off" look because it hardly has any toppings LOL

    This looks great- any leftovers?

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  4. Hehe did you eat the boccocini before it made it onto the pizza?
    Classic combination with a crispy pizza base. Yum!

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  5. Mmmm yum. Simple pizzas are the best. Nice and tasty.

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  6. Yum, I love bocconcini on pizza. Good choice!

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  7. looks good! hope the wedding preparations are coming along well?

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  8. You mangle so well!!

    The base looks lovely, thin and a nice crunch when you bite into the crust. I love a simple pizza with gorgeous flavours, yum!

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  9. Hey Suze, so does my husband - such understated simple beauty =)

    Hey Conor, starting to think I never cook a recipe as it's intended =p This is nothing compared to your pizza/pie/tart creation though!

    Hey Adrian, thanks for dropping by =) Ahhh, it's that age-old "but it's not good value!" argument - baaahhh, if you enjoy eating it then it's more than good value! No leftovers though, I'm afraid =p

    Hey Lily, heheheh, I did! I ate slices of the bocconcini as I was cutting it for the pizza...you know, to make sure it tasted ok =D

    Hey Mark, agreed! Simple and tasty.

    Hey Bel, have a massive weak spot for bocconcini - how can a simple cheese be so good?!

    Hey Panda, wedding was a couple of weekends ago. Thanks goodness all that madness is over, haha!

    Hey Sara, haha, nothing like a simple pizza where you can actually taste all the flavours!

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  10. Love the recipe, absolute yum and love the idea of printing it to a recipe cards.

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