Roasted Tomato Pizza and White Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

A little caveat to this recipe - I didn't measure or use a recipe for the toppings, so I just wrote down the amounts from memory. Hopefully it is about right, but if you use the recipe for the toppings, just go with proportions that look about right. 

Roasted Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil, and Pine Nut Pizza

Makes 1 small, 12 inch pizza.

Olive oil

About 16 slices of roasted tomatoes

5 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced

3 large basil leaves, rolled and sliced into thin ribbons

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1 portion of Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, recipe below

Prepare pizza dough, oven, and pizza pan according to dough recipe.

Brush rolled out dough with olive oil. Top with roasted tomatoes, then with mozzarella slices. Bake according to pizza dough instructions, about 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is beginning to brown.

Remove from oven and top with ribbons of basil and pine nuts.

*For roasted tomatoes: slice tomatoes into about ½ inch slices. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Crush a few cloves of garlic (you can leave them in the skins), and scatter them over the tops of the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, enough to lightly coat the tops of the tomatoes. Season with salt and a little pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 1 to 1 ½ hours, until tomatoes are shrived and beginning to brown slightly. Discard garlic. Use right away or store in the refrigerator.

White Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Makes six, 12-inch pizza crusts.

From 101 Cookbooks.

4 ½ cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour

1 ¾ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon instant yeast

¼ cup olive oil

1 ¾ cups water, ice cold

Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer. By hand stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If needed, add a touch of water or flour to reach the desired effect. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky.

Transfer the dough to a floured countertop. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces and mold each into a ball. Rub each ball with olive oil and slip into plastic sandwich bags. Refrigerator overnight. Dough can be left in fridge for up to 4 days.

When you are ready to make pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before making the pizza. Keep them covered so they don't dry out.

Place a baking stone on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

Uncover the dough balls and dust them with flour. Working one at a time, gently roll out dough into a circle about 12-inches in diameter. If the dough is being fussy and keeps springing back, let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Dust the baking stone or back of a baking sheet with cornmeal or semolina flour. Place the rolled-out dough on the prepared sheet pan.

Add your toppings and slide the topped pizza onto the baking stone. Bake until the crust is crisp and nicely colored, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven.

*Dough freezes nicely. Freeze after dividing up dough and putting in Ziploc bags. Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Then continue to form and cook as indicated above.