You can’t go wrong when you combine basil, tomatoes and mozzarella! This caprese pizza is a classic that is sure to be a family favorite! 

Caprese salad is an old Italian dish, served with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil leaves. It often has has olive oil, salt and pepper covering it. Delicious!! It’s the perfect summertime treat, especially from the garden!

Let’s be honest. Whether you use cherry tomatoes, or roma tomatoes, is there anything better than biting into a fresh, ripe, juicy tomato? The squeak of real mozzarella, and the zesty bite of basil are the perfect accompaniments as well. 

Caprese pizza has the same flavors, but with a twist. Well, of course there’s a twist, it’s pizza instead of salad! Who said that eating healthier had to be boring, right?

We discovered our love for all things tomato and basil when we first began homesteading. Growing our own tomatoes and basil was wonderful, because nothing beats that garden  fresh flavor. We would slice the ripe tomatoes and add a sprinkling of salt and chow down!

My youngest son was famous for eating tomatoes just like apples. As a matter of fact, that first year, only one tomato plant survived, and it only had ONE tomato. (can you see where this is going?) He was 3 at the time, and so cute and innocent. I turned my back for one second and he bit into that tomato like an apple! As a matter of fact, he ate that entire thing before I could get through my brain what was happening.

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Back to the caprese pizza. This idea came to us one night as we were making our traditional Friday night family dinner-homemade pizza. My daughter was on a “pesto” kick that month and was eating all things pesto. Of course, my youngest couldn’t stay away from the tomatoes…

My oldest son and I were making the dough when the idea really hit. Put the pesto as the sauce, and add the fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. It was a HIT! I hope that you enjoy it as much as we do.

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Do I have use a specific kind of tomatoes?

Not really. I prefer Roma myself in this recipe, as they are less watery, but regular tomatoes on the vine will work beautifully as well.

Ingredients:

• Warm water
• Dry yeast
• Sugar
• Olive oil
• All purpose flour
• Salt
• Garlic powder
• Pesto sauce (get the recipe here)
• Tomatoes, sliced
• Fresh mozzarella

Making your caprese pizza

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the water, yeast, sugar, and oil. Stir to combine. Allow the yeast to proof.
2. Add the salt and garlic powder to the flour, and mix into the yeast water.
3. Mix the flour in until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl. Turn onto a floured surface and knead. Allow to rise.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
5. Grease pizza pan or cast iron pan lightly with olive oil and press pizza dough into a circle.
6. Poke several times all over with a fork to remove any air bubbles. 
7. Bake the crust alone for 10 minutes in the oven, and then remove. 
8. Spread the pesto sauce on the crust, and top with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Return to the oven until cheese is melted and bubbly. 
9. Serve hot and enjoy!

Do I really have to use fresh mozzarella for this caprese pizza?

Honestly, no. It makes it more “authentic” and the mozzarella doesn’t pool into a bunch of oily mess, but if you only have shredded mozzarella, that’s fine. I would suggest that you keep it chilled until just before putting it on the pizza to put in the oven. This will keep it nice and browned without getting that oily mess.

What is your favorite pizza? Will you try this caprese pizza? Be sure to let me know what you think!