Caramelized Tomato Pizza

Book Update:  Our book club book of the month is “Skeletons of the Zahara” by Dean King.  At first, it is a sllooooow read through the desert, but it is picking up pace and getting interesting since they left port.  It is the story of Captain James Riley and his crew aboard the Commerce who are shipwrecked on the western coast of Africa.  This is the book description from Amazon:

“Everywhere hailed as a masterpiece of historical adventure, this enthralling narrative recounts the experiences of twelve American sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815, captured by desert nomads, sold into slavery, and subjected to a hellish two-month journey through the bone-dry heart of the Sahara. The ordeal of these men – who found themselves tested by barbarism, murder, starvation, death, dehydration, and hostile tribes that roamed the desert on camelback – is made indelibly vivid in this gripping account of courage, brotherhood, and survival.”

Recipe:  I was tired of the same old at lunch and trying to make a Parmesan Flan with Cherry Tomatoes.  But, my Parmesan went moldy!  Why didn’t I just freeze it like everything else???  Well, next time!  So, I had the ingredients to make this and decided to turn it into a pizza.  Hey, everything is good on pizza 🙂  And with the recent awesome whether you could grill your pizza or put it in the oven!  This is really a great example of taking ordinary ingredients and with a cooking technique – turning them into something much more.  I hope you enjoy it!

Another idea:  cook the tomatoes per the instructions to top pasta or toasted bread.

Caramelized Tomato Pizza
serves 2-4 people

1 – 13″ pizza crust from your favorite pizza dough recipe or I used my Wildtree Whole Wheat Quick Pizza Dough
9-10 oz. red or yellow cherry or grape tomatoes (1 of the small containers at the store should be about 10 oz)
1-1 and 1/2 Tb. olive oil or roasted garlic grapeseed oil, divided
kosher salt
pepper
1 cup mozzarella and parmesan or just mozzarella
1 Tb. fresh basil (or substitute 1 tsp. dried)

1.  Make your pizza dough(or have one thawed out in the fridge and sit at room temperature for 20 minutes; I make my dough with roasted garlic grapeseed oil – yum).
2.  Cut your tomatoes in half length-wise.
3.  Heat 1/2 Tb. of oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
4.  Add your tomatoes and saute them about 8-10 minutes.  Stir often and they should get really soft.
5.  Remove from heat.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Spread your pizza dough into a 13″ circle on parchment or pizza pan.
7.  Brush 1/2-1 Tb. of oil onto the dough.  Sprinkle cheese.  Sprinkle tomatoes.  Add more parmesan on top if you like.
8.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or 500 degrees for 8-13 minutes.  (Really depends on your pan and where your oven rack is located, so that is why there is a timeframe).
9.  Once removed from the oven, sprinkle fresh basil on top.  Add additional kosher salt on top to taste.
10.  Cool, slice and eat!