Mennonite Girls Can Cook is a collection of recipes which were posted daily for a period of ten years from 2008 to 2018. We have over 3,000 delicious recipes that we invite you to try. The recipes can be accessed in our recipe file by category or you can use the search engine.

Recipe Search

Basil Tomato Pizza

This makes a nice change from a tomato sauce based pizza. 
It makes a great appetizer as well.

For the Pizza crust *:
  • 1 1/4 cups warm water 
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 teaspoon sugar 
  • 1 teaspoon. salt
  • 1 tablespoon instant yeast 
  • 3-4 cups flour
  1. Mix flour, sugar salt and yeast in mixing bowl.
  2. Add oil and warm water and mix to form a soft dough.
  3. Cover and let rise until nearly double in bulk.
  4. Grease large pizza pan or cookie sheet and sprinkle with about 2 Tbsp. cornmeal. (this keeps your crust from getting soggy)
  5. Roll out dough on floured board or
  6. you can just press it out, stretching it to fit the pan. You can get 2 medium sized pizzas from this amount of dough so I often spread it on another pizza pan and freeze it for another day.
  7. Place on prepared pan.
  8. Top with Basil Tomato Topping.
For the Basil Tomato Topping:
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 large garlic clove minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves or 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • 1 teaspoon fresh chives or green onions chopped fine
  • thinly sliced seeded tomatoes (Roma tomatoes are the best)
  • 1-1 1/2 cups coarsely grated Mozzarella cheese
  1. In mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, garlic and basil until well mixed.
  2. Spread on prepared crust.
  3. Arrange tomato slices over topping and sprinkle with chives and grated Mozzarella.
  4. Bake at 425degrees for 15 minutes or until it bubbles and the cheese just begins to brown.
* Time-saving Tip:
My sister uses one of those bagged. prepared pizza crusts you can buy in the deli of your grocery store and it works very well.

16 comments:

  1. Nice looking pie! The only question I have is about the mayo- you see I'm not a big mayo fan, but I'm a HUGE pizza fan. Does it taste like mayo on the pizza? I've got a lot of basil to use up and I think I'll make this tonight. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks good! Mayo? I am going to have to try this to see how that tastes with the tomatoes...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Whenever I put tomatoes on my pizza, the crust is soggy. How do you avoid that? I bake it in cast iron.

    ReplyDelete
  4. annamarie...i know that when i put tomatoes on it gets soggy for me too.
    so what i do is add the tomatoes almost at the end and then a little cheese over that and broil.
    Bev........what do you do?

    your pizza looks fabulous...i could live off pizza alone.....it has all the food groups.....right ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. As for soggy tomatoes, which I've dealt with on white pizzas, you can put the cut up 'maters on paper towels to absorb some of the moisture, and the other alternative I'm toying with is to slow roast them prior to putting them on the pie.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This looks great. I don't care for tomato based pizza, and have to go to a specialty joint to get anything else. I'm definitely going to try this. I may cheat and use the store bought crust too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those are both really good tips - thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow...this looks better than any pizza pie at my local pizzeria, and I live in NYC!

    ReplyDelete
  9. About the mayo and tomatoes - you have to try it - the mayo mixed with the garlic and basil makes a wonderful flavour combination with the tomatoes.
    I don't have too much trouble with soggy crust -
    a)I seed the tomatoes before putting them on the crust and
    b) the cornmeal helps keep the crust from getting soggy.
    I should note that some prefried bacon is a good additional topping if your Man requires meat on his pizza.:)

    ReplyDelete
  10. What night did you say you would be serving this? Looks very yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello Bev! I think this pizza would make my husband happy :0)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hm...from a pizza lover, and this almost sounds Italian...Yea..something I will add to my list.

    ReplyDelete
  13. We have had this at your place and it is one we now enjoy from time to time. Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi! I'm just wondering whether it's necessary to knead the dough, since the recipe doesn't mention it-thanks! How does kneading or not kneading affect the finished product?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good observation! Yes, I knead it a few minutes after I add the last bit of flour. It should be smooth and elastic before you set it to rise.

      Delete
  15. This is one of my favorite recipes in the book. My family asks me to make this all the time. The dough is sooo good and the mayo garlic sauce is a nice change from classic tomato sauce.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.