An End of Summer Pizza

Have you ever made a pizza with garden-fresh tomatoes? When my garden tomatoes are ready to harvest one of the ways I like to highlight their sweetness is with a pizza. I keep it simple.

The three tomato plants I have in my garden just keep on giving. I'm not complaining. I wait for my tomato bounty all year long. That's why you'll find a lot of tomato recipes on Just One Donna in the summer.

This fresh tomato and mozzarella cheese pizza is a favorite.

A Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Pizza

(This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Your purchases made through these links help to support this blog.)

Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Pizza

Pizza became easier to make at home than ordering out when I got a pizza stone. It took me a little while to get the hang of baking pizza with the pizza stone, but once I did my preference for pizza became any kind of pizza I make at home.

No more pizza deliveries here. When you choose a pizza stone, choose one that can be used in the oven or on the grill. In my experience, they are less apt to crack. Don't buy one with handles. The handles just get in the way.

How to Make Great Pizza at Home

1. A Hot Pizza Stone: The key to making pizza at home with a pizza stone is to let the pizza stone get screaming hot. I preheat my oven to 500 degrees F for twenty to thirty minutes before baking the pizza. Any less than that and the result will be disappointing. When the oven is hot enough, the pizza only takes five to eight minutes to bake.

2. A Hot Oven: The other key to great pizza at home may be specific to my oven. I cook pizza at 500 degrees F. I also find that my pizza stone needs to be on the lowest rack of my oven.

3. Use Parchment Paper: You don't need a pizza pan. I just place my pizza dough on a piece of parchment paper and lay that right on the pizza stone. Can you ever have too much parchment paper? I love that you can buy it in large quantities now.

I use the back side of a sheet pan to transfer the pizza to the pizza stone. Just slide the parchment paper holding the pizza dough onto the sheet pan and then slide it off the sheet pan onto the pizza stone in the oven. It's easy as can be!

4. A Pizza Wheel is Helpful: The only other tool you'll want when making a pizza at home is a good pizza cutter. It isn't an absolute necessity because good old kitchen shears will do the trick, too. I love the speed with which I can cut a pizza using a pizza wheel and I find myself using it for many other things in the kitchen. A pizza wheel is not just a one-task tool. I've had this pizza wheel for several years and love it.

Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Pizza

Tomato and Mozzarella Pizza Ready for the Oven

Printer Friendly Recipe

Pizza dough, store-bought or homemade bread machine dough
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 Tablespoon Italian herb blend
1 large, fresh tomato, sliced
1 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced
4-8 fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F (if it allows). Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the garlic. It should sizzle. Add the Italian seasoning mix. Stir and remove the pan from the stove to cool. You want to infuse the oil with the garlic and herb flavors.

Cut a square of parchment paper. Oil your hands with some olive oil. Press the pizza dough into a circle on your parchment paper, approximately 12 inches in diameter.

Pour the oil mixture over the dough and brush it across the top of the dough, leaving about a 1/2 inch border. Lay the slices of mozzarella cheese around the pizza in an even pattern. Place the slices of tomato evenly around the pizza. Season the tomatoes with a little salt and pepper.

Roll the leaves of basil together and chiffonade into thin ribbons. Sprinkle the basil over the pizza. Now add a generous amount of Parmesan cheese.

Transfer the pizza and parchment paper to the preheated pizza stone in your oven. Set your timer for five minutes. Check the bottom of the pizza to see if it has browned. Bake the pizza only until the crust is browned and the toppings look ready. In my oven that takes five to eight minutes.

Tomato and Mozzarella Pizza Ready to Eat

Cut your pizza into portions and serve warm.

Essential Pizza Kit

The right tools will make your homemade pizza baking a success.

Bread Machine: This is the bread machine I use.
Pizza Stone
Pizza Wheel
Cheese Grater
Parchment Paper Sheets

More Pizza and Focaccia Recipes

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Bread Machine Focaccia Bread

Tomato and Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Enjoy the yummy goodness!

Comments

How to Make a Perfect Bacon and Eggs Breakfast

In my opinion, the best breakfast consists of two perfectly fried eggs, crispy bacon, and toast made with hearty bread. This bacon and eggs recipe delivers. Bacon and eggs or eggs and bacon? No matter, it is definitely the breakfast you want on those lazy mornings when you have time to relax around the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee or two. The Best Bacon and Eggs Breakfast (This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. When you make a purchase using these links you help support this blog.) How to Cook Bacon and Eggs My technique was learned from my mom, by watching her make our family's breakfast over and over again, year after year. This is a basted egg recipe which means the eggs are cooked in bacon grease. Cooking eggs in bacon fat is easy and takes just a little practice to perfect.

The Best Asian Dipping Sauce You'll Ever Taste

If you're looking for a versatile, easy-to-make Asian dipping sauce perfect for sushi and dumplings, then you've come to the right place. This recipe for the best Asian dipping sauce is perfect for any time you want a kick of delicious Asian flavor. An Asian Dipping Sauce for Sushi and Dumplings Try this if you are looking for a dipping sauce that is a little more flavorful than you typically get with your takeout order. You'll love it with dumplings, too!

The Best Way to Cook Bacon: Oven vs. Stovetop

How to cook bacon is often hotly debated. Cooking bacon in a pan on the stove has always been an easy go-to method. Cooking bacon in the oven has grown in popularity over time. Are you curious about which bacon cooking method cooks bacon faster, which method produces the crispiest bacon, or which method offers easier cleanup? Those were the primary questions I wanted to answer in this bacon cooking comparison. How to Cook Bacon (This post includes paid links.) Whether you're a breakfast aficionado or just looking for bacon cooking tips for the quickest, crunchiest, and most hassle-free way to cook your bacon, I've got answers. Check out the Oven vs. Stovetop bacon battle and discover the fastest, crispiest, and easiest way to cook bacon for breakfast.

How to Kill Ants in Your Home

Simple Homemade Ant Bait That Works If you’ve ever had ants show up in your kitchen, you know how quickly a small problem turns into a big one. This simple homemade ant bait uses just three ingredients and works by eliminating the colony, not just the ants you see. No sprays. No guesswork. Just a method that actually works.

Traditional New England Whoopie Pies

These old-fashioned whoopie pies are soft, chocolatey, and filled with a rich, creamy filling, just like the ones many of us remember. This is a true New England-style recipe. If you’re looking for a true whoopie pie recipe—the kind made in New England with a cooked filling—this is it. Whoopie pies are a beloved treat, a nostalgic dessert that evokes childhood memories and continues to delight today. My mom would make them for us every once in a while. Oh, what a treat to come home from school to a platter of chocolate whoopie pies! This recipe, inspired by traditional Maine-style whoopie pies, comes from my family recipe box. It delivers soft, chocolatey cakes with a rich, creamy cooked filling – no marshmallow fluff needed! The Best Whoopie Pies Recipe (Soft cakes & Creamy Filling) This post includes affiliate links. Whoopie pies are essentially handheld cake sandwiches: soft, round, cake-like cookies embracing a luscious, creamy filling. While their ...

Crunchy, Spicy Gingersnap Cookies

An Old-Fashioned Cookie That Always Turns Out There’s something about a good gingersnap cookie that just feels right. Not fancy. Not complicated. Just dependable… and really, really good. These crunchy, spicy gingersnaps are the kind of cookie you make when you want something you know will turn out—and something everyone will recognize and enjoy. They’ve got that classic crackled top, a warm blend of spices, and just enough sweetness to balance it all out. And the best part? They’re easy. No mixer required. Traditional Ginger Snaps Cookie Recipe ( This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated when you make a purchase with these links.) Gingersnaps Cookies This old-fashioned gingersnap cookie is a winner. It's easy to make and will be a favorite in your recipe rotation.

Grandma's Soft and Chewy Date-Filled Cookies

One of the things I can count on as the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons arrive each year is a feeling of nostalgia. The traditional foods we serve at our family's holiday tables can surely bring out all the feels. Now that it is officially cookie season, we should kick it off with an old-fashioned homemade date-filled cookie recipe. This is a soft, tender cookie with dates that is a special, nostalgic, family recipe. An Old-Fashioned Date Cookie Recipe What are old-fashioned date-filled cookies? Old-fashioned date-filled cookies are a nostalgic, soft sandwich cookie featuring two rounds of tender sugar cookie dough with a sweet, homemade date jam filling in the center. This vintage 1930s recipe is a traditional holiday favorite, prized for its soft texture and the perfect balance of buttery dough and naturally sweet dates. This old-fashioned, date-filled cookie was my dad's favorite cookie from his childhood. My dad was born in 1932, so this...

Five Keys to Growing A Healthy Ficus Tree

Have you ever wondered how a single Ficus benjamina tree could become a beloved part of your home for decades, thriving and growing alongside your family? If you haven’t yet, you might consider the addition of this living, air-purifying companion in your home that not only beautifies your space but also stands the test of time. You may know this tree as either a Ficus benjamina or a weeping fig. I have loved growing a ficus tree in my home for 36 years. It’s remarkable that I've had this tree for so long. How to Grow A Ficus Tree Inside for Decades This post includes affiliate links. I may receive compensation when you use these links. When thinking about how I managed to keep this indoor ficus tree happy, healthy, and growing strong all these years it boiled down to five key Ficus benjamina plant care tips. Follow these tips and you can have a happy, healthy ficus tree in your home for many years, too.

Coffee and Dessert-A Perfect Pairing

3 Easy Coffee Drinks to Make at Home (Perfect with Dessert) Coffee and dessert just belong together. Not in a fussy, go-out-to-a-restaurant kind of way… but in that simple end-of-the-day moment when you want something a little special without making a big production out of it. The good news? You don’t need any special equipment to make a really good “dessert coffee” at home. If you can brew a strong cup of coffee and warm a little milk, you’re already halfway there. In this post, I’m going to show you three easy coffee drinks you can make in your own kitchen, and exactly what to serve with them when you want that coffee shop feel without leaving the house.

The Ultimate Cinnamon Swirl Bread: A Bread Machine Recipe

Today's recipe will fill your kitchen with an incredible aroma and lots of smiles. It's homemade cinnamon swirl bread made with your bread machine. If you’ve ever struggled to get that perfect cinnamon swirl or ended up with gaps or leaking filling, this method fixes that using your bread machine. Bread Machine Cinnamon Swirl Bread (Soft, Easy Recipe) This post includes affiliate links. This recipe brings together the ease of your trusty bread machine with the deliciousness of a warm, sweet, and perfectly swirled cinnamon bread. Get ready for a slice of pure comfort!

Just~One~Donna

Search This Blog