Pizza Rustica

What could be better than a simple, delicious pizza? The tiny, fresh tomatoes in this recipe are key. They stand in for sauce and are a little sweet, balancing nicely with other simple ingredients, like fresh herbs.


Pizza Rustica
Servings: 4-6
Time: 35 minutes (20 prep, 15 in the oven)

13 oz pizza dough (buy it to save time; fits standard cookie sheet)
8 oz fresh mozzarella sliced into ovals
1 pint of grape or small cherry tomatoes
1 table spoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Dried rosemary
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/8 of a teaspoon of salt
Red Pepper flakes
Fresh spinach (or basil if you want more flavor)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tomatoes and olive oil into frying pan and cook over medium low heat, stirring every once in a while.

Meanwhile, Roll out dough onto lightly greased or parchment covered cookie sheet.

Check on tomatoes. They should cook for about 5 minutes. When they start to become soft, add the garlic, herbs, salt, and a shake of red pepper flakes. Continue stirring and cooking until you can easily pop or crush tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula. Remove from heat at that point, and crush the remaining tomatoes.

Place mozzarella slices directly onto the dough, spacing them equally apart so that when they melt, the cheese will cover the entire pie. Using a spoon, drop small amounts of tomato mixture in different places directly on top of the cheese and dough.

Place fresh spinach or basil leaves in between the tomato splotches.

Place pizza in oven and cook until the cheese is melted and turning golden brown in some spots and the crust is golden.