HomeShop by DepartmentRecipes EntreesBrick-Oven Sundried Tomato Pizza

Brick-Oven Sundried Tomato Pizza

Enlarge

There are no alternate images available for this product.

Brick-Oven Sundried Tomato Pizza

We all love pizza, no need to deny it. We love it so much in fact that the University of Michigan studied why and published their results in the US National Library of Medicine. What they found was, hands down, pizza is highly addictive. It is not the kind of spiral-out-of-control kind of addiction where we need a slice of pie now …. but the pizza from this recipe well may be.

You do not have to be a chef to master our crust; it is easy and fun. Secondly, hand making pizza is an opportunity to bond with friends and family.

It is easy to get carried away with the toppings. The key to a homemade pizza is balancing sweet, salty, tangy, briny and spicy tastes of the toppings. This is a pizza that harmonizes and layers all the flavors perfectly while being nutritious too!

Note from Tassos: The popularity of sundried tomatoes unfortunately lowered their quality, rushing low quality, sawdust tasting tomatoes into commercial dehydrators. This created a product that was bitter, with floppy flesh and leached out flavor. Our sundried tomatoes are of an heirloom grown variety and authentically sun dried. What a treat quality brings to your dishes!

Ingredients

Dough

• 2¼ tsp (1 standard packet) active dry yeast

• 1⅓ c warm water (100–110°F)

• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar

• 3½ c unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for hands and surface

• ¾ tsp salt

• 2 Tbsp Tassos® Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Tomato Sauce

• 6–8 Tassos® Sundried Tomatoes, sliced, plus their liquid

• 2 large garlic cloves, smashed

• 2 Tbsp Tassos® Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 15-oz can whole tomatoes in juice

• 4 basil leaves, chopped

• ¼ tsp sugar

• pinch salt

Topping

• 6 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into ¼-inch slices

• remainder of jar of Tassos® Sundried Tomatoes

• 20 Tassos® Pitted Kalamata Greek Olives or Tassos® Black Greek Olives, sliced

• 8–10 basil leaves, chopped

• grated cheese, your choice

• additional toppings, your choice

• Tassos® Bruschetta, your choice (optional)

Cooking Directions

Directions

Dough

Whisk yeast, warm water, and sugar in mixing bowl. Cover and let stand until small bubbles appear on surface, approx. 5 minutes. (If bubbles do not appear, discard and start over with new yeast.) To the yeast mixture, add 1¼ c flour, salt, and extra virgin olive oil. Stir until smoothly mixed. Stir in remainder of flour, approx. ¼ c at a time. Dough will be slightly sticky and should pull away from sides of bowl.

Turn onto floured surface and knead. If dough is too sticky, add more flour to surface and work in. Knead until dough is soft and elastic, approx. 10 minutes.

Form into a ball, place dough in a bowl, and sprinkle with flour. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, letting rise until doubled in size, at least 1½ hours. Instant or rapid-rise yeast: Reduce the rise time by 10–15 minutes. Overnight method: Prepare dough a day ahead of time and place in refrigerator to rise overnight. Bring dough to room temperature before shaping.

Tomato Sauce

In a food processor, pulse whole tomatoes with sundried tomatoes and their liquid to make a chunky purée.

In a saucepan, cook garlic in extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until fragrant, approx. 2 minutes. Add sundried tomato purée, basil, and sugar. Add pinch of salt and simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce to about ¾ c, approx. 30 minutes.

Assembly

At least 45 minutes before baking pizza, preheat oven to 500°F and place pizza stone or inverted baking sheet at the lowest rack of the oven. For gas ovens, place stone on the floor of the oven.

Do not punch the dough down. Sprinkle with flour and transfer to pizza peel or a second inverted baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flour hands and pat out dough evenly with hands and stretch into a 12–14-inch round shape.

Spread prepared sauce over the dough, leaving about a 1-inch border. Arrange cheese, sundried tomatoes, and olives on top, approx. 2–3 inches from the border. You may also add toppings of your choice, such as pepperoni or sliced mushrooms. Gently transfer pizza and parchment onto the preheated pizza stone or inverted baking sheet. Bake until dough is browned and crisp and cheese is golden, approx. 13–16 minutes.

Serve

Transfer pizza to a cutting board. Cool for 3–5 minutes. Sprinkle with basil leaves, grated cheese of choice, and remainder of sliced olives. Serve with optional side of bruschetta.

Brick-Oven Bruschetta Pizza Variation: Follow steps for Brick-Oven Sundried Tomato Pizza. Rather than making the tomato sauce, spread 2–3 Tbsp of your favorite Tassos® Bruschetta, add toppings, and then bake.