It was a day of 10s, but what did you expect on 10-10-10?
Well, the day’s Star pick came from the appetizer course, a small pizza for two, but filled with big taste. Below, I have up-sized the recipe in order to serve four…
… Unless you don’t want to share any of it! Now, where is my Chianti?
- Chez
- 1 frozen pizza dough
- 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, stemmed
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
- 1 4-ounce ball fresh mozzarella in water (ovoline), drained and cut into chunks
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves plus small leaves for garnish
Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Roll dough on heavy large baking sheet; pull to about 14-inch disk, pinching any tears to seal.
Heat large skillet over high heat 2 minutes. Add oil and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until tomatoes are charred and beginning to break down (about 6 minutes). Transfer to large bowl and mix in fennel and crushed red pepper. Using a potato masher, crush tomatoes in bowl leaving some chunks intact. Return to skillet and cook over high heat to drive off excess liquid (2-4 minutes).Season mixture with salt and pepper.
Ladle sauce evenly over dough, coming to within ½ inch of edge. Scatter the 1/3-cup of the basil over the sauce and add the cheese, leaving some space between the chunks. Bake pizza until crust is crisp and brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
Loosen pizza with metal spatula and slide onto board. Garnish with remainder of basil leaves and serve.
