EASY MARGHERITA PIZZA

A simple recipe for an easy Margherita pizza that has only 6 ingredients and is ready in less than 25 minutes!

I love easy dinners. Those are my most favorite kind. The kind of dinners that require only a few dishes and only a few ingredients. This Margherita pizza totally fits the bill!

When Anees and I make pizza at home, we love to try unique flavor combinations. Margherita pizza is a favorite of both of ours. For me, Margherita pizzas hold a special place in my heart. And no. It’s not because the mozzarella cheese is so melty and delicious (well that too, but..). Anees and I used to go out for Margherita pizzas all the time before we got married. I associate Margherita Pizzas with those memories.The California Pizza Kitchen makes an amazing version of this. And that’s what we’re going to recreate today!

We love topping our pizza with crushed red pepper flakes (or “spicy-man-pizza-guy”, Anees’s nickname for it, which isn’t really a nickname at all). What are your favorite toppings?

Remember when we made that Margherita Panini? I loved the way the cheese, tomatoes and basil married each other under a canopy of wonderful garlic scented french bread. This is the pizza that inspired that wonderful creation.

I’m giving you not 1. Not 2. But 3 reasons why you MUST make this:

ONE: You blend together tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil to make an amazing, flavorful, fragrant sauce that is ridiculously easy to make. It’s all in the sauce, baby! *whispers* It’s all in the sauce.

TWO: Pizza dough + five ingredients to be on your way to vegging out on the couch with a slice of heaven. Most of you will probably have these ingredients on hand! Let’s high-five to five ingredients! Yay! Don’t leave me hangin’ here!

THREE: Melty, gooey mozzarella. The end.

I’m starting with a Trader Joe’s pre-made pizza dough. You can choose your favorite or make your own! These Margherita toppings would be great on a whole wheat pizza dough too!

This is a really easy tomato base for the pizza. Just a few tomatoes with the seeds and juices removed, fresh basil, garlic, and olive oil. You’re going to just pulse these ingredients together in a food processor and pour them into a strainer to remove any excess liquids. It’s important to do this step so the pizza doesn’t get watery from tomato juices.

Roll your dough out into a 12-inch round circle, you can do this on parchment or a silicone mat and transfer to your baking sheet. You can also do this directly on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray and dusted lightly with corn meal. Spread the sauce on your pizza and top with freshly sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 – 12  minutes.

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