Goat Cheese Margherita Pizza

I’m going to be honest with you about 2 things: 1) I almost didn’t post this recipe because I really struggled to make the pictures look nice and that’s really important to me. In the end I decided to say the hell with the pictures because this pizza is damn delicious and everyone needs to try it for themselves! 2) There is going to be a lot of goat cheese around these parts in the near future. You can thank me later.

Ingredients:
Pizza dough (I use this recipe cut in half), makes 2 medium pizzas
4-6oz goat cheese
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves

For sauce:
1 large (15oz) can of whole tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar (add more to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400° F. If you are using a pizza stone, go ahead and put that in the oven until you are ready to use it.
2) Prepare sauce by sauteing your garlic in 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan. While that is cooking, prepare the tomatoes.
3) Place all of the tomatoes in a food processor (or blender) and process until they reach a creamy consistency.
4) Add the tomatoes to the garlic and olive oil and add in the sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir.
5) Simmer uncovered for ~20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the pizza.

6) Prepare your dough by cutting it in either half or thirds (unless you want to make one giant pizza!).

7) take one section of your dough and roll it out as thin (or as thick) as you would prefer your crust. I like mine a bit thin so I roll the dough out no larger than 1/4 of an inch. Let the rolled out dough sit for a minute.

8) Prepare the cheese by slicing it into your desired size pieces.
9) Take the sauce off of the stove and let it cool for a minute.
10) Carefully place your dough onto the pizza stone/ pan. Cover with your desired amount of sauce and cheese. I didn’t want too much cheese on mine so I put 3-4 large pieces of mozzarella on each pizza and crumbled the goat cheese in smaller pieces all around the pizza.
11) Bake each pizza for ~20 minutes or until the edges of the dough turn golden brown.
12) Once out of the oven, let pizza cool for a few minutes.
13) Add fresh basil leaves all over the pizza and ENJOY!

I know it’s not the pretties pizza in school but I promise you that it is the tastiest! The simplicity of the sauce is one of my favorite parts. It makes the flavors really pop! I personally get a bit basil happy with mine and manage to fit in a basil piece with pretty much every bite.

Follow @Bfota