Heirloom Tomato Pizza
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Serves: 18-24 slices
 
A creamy, ricotta and mascarpone cheese pizza topped with seasonal heirloom tomatoes.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
  • 3½ cups/500g all purpose/plain flour
  • 2¼ teaspoon/1 sachet instant yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1-1½ cups warm water
Pizza
  • 1 15oz/425g container ricotta cheese
  • 1 8oz/225g container mascarpone cheese
  • 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
  • ⅚ sprigs fresh thyme
  • pepper
  • 4-5 large assorted Heirloom Tomatoes, sliced
  • extra thyme for springing over top
Instructions
Pizza Dough
  1. There are many ways to make pizza dough.
  2. I usually dump all my dry ingredients into the mixer and mix,
  3. Add the warm water, 1 cup first and then drizzle as necessary.
  4. Let the mixer do the work, knead and become nice and smooth.
  5. Place the dough ball in a greased bowl abc cover with a towel to rise.
  6. About an hour at sea level but about 30-40 minutes at altitude.
  7. However, when I do this, I know my yeast is fresh and will rise.
  8. If you are unsure of the quality of your yeast, then let it proof with the water and sugar until light and fluffy.
  9. Then add to the flour, olive oil and salt.
  10. While the dough is rising, work on the tomatoes and the cheese mixture.
  11. Slice the tomatoes in a ¼ inch slice.
  12. Mix the ricotta and mascarpone together, add the thyme, salt and pepper.
  13. Be generous with the salt, but taste to ensure you don't over salt!
  14. Preheat the oven to 500F/250C
  15. Once the dough has risen, spread out the dough into a large sheet pan, I used a half sheet size.
  16. You could also divide the dough into ¾ pieces and make individual pizzas.
  17. Smear the cheese filling all over the dough and arrange the tomatoes over the top.
  18. Sprinkle a few thyme leaves but reserve some to place on top after baking.
  19. Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.
  20. The tomatoes should be shrunk slightly and the crust and cheese lightly browned.
  21. Pull out of the oven and let cool a little before slicing.
Notes
So, this was the first time I made this and though I usually like to try it out a couple of times before posting, I thought it was very good like this. I chose to use ricotta and mascarpone because I don't like the graininess of ricotta cheese. I figured, mixing a bit of mascarpone would tame the gritty feeling and sure enough, I got all creamy and not grainy. Creamy is good and this was really very good with the tomatoes being the star. However, I think a tad drizzle of garlic oil or even basil oil could elevate this even more. Maybe even an addition of a garlic clove in the cheese mixture could zip it up a bit. But like I said, it is very, very good as is. I just have a tendency to not leave things well enough alone.
Recipe by Coffee and Crumpets at http://www.coffeeandcrumpets.com/heirloom-tomato-pizza/