Mason Redd's Tomato and Basil Pizza

I first had this pizza when I was 12. I was in Utah for my brother's wedding and his future wife's father made it in a homemade brick oven. It converted me to tomatoes.

A pizza margarita is far more common now than it was then. But just in case YOU don't know about it. I thought I'd share, and preserve a happy family memory.



Using your favorite pizza crust as a base (no recipe suggestion here. I just use my kitchen aid recipe. so quick. so easy. but so not useful if you don't have a kitchen aid) do the following:

1. Drizzle olive oil on the dough. Spread evenly with your hand.
2. Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese.
3. Layer sliced tomatoes (use A LOT, I wish I had used more on the above). I usually use Roma's, but I had a few beefsteak and marglobes left over from my garden. You don't want a super watery tomato, so that's why the Roma's are nice.
4. Sprinkle salt (not too much) and parmesan cheese over the top.
5. Cut fresh basil in a chiffonade and spread generously over pizza. (again, wish I had used more)
6. Bake pizza at the temperature and time recommended by your crust recipe. We like a thin crust, so I usually bake at 400 for 20 minutes. But that's just my quirky oven. Don't count on it.



Mmm. The happy result. I serve this with Spring Mix tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar (which I recently learned how to reduce thanks Audrey which makes it thicker, sweeter, and syrup-ier.) and salt.