White Pizza with Tomato and Basil

Home! I can't believe how good it feels to be able to type that word. I finished up my last clinical rotation for pharmacy school this week. It hasn't quite sunk in yet that I'm done and get to stay, but until it does, I'm just going to enjoy being here =)

I think the hubby must have missed "our" cooking while I was gone because the first three things we made since I've been back are pizza, chocolate chip cookies, and Chinese food in that order (more recipes to follow). I'm certainly not complaining because they've all been good, and it's not just because I've been subsisting on pb&j and lunch meat for the past 3 weeks. 

This pizza recipe is one that my husband picked out for dinner from my Cooking Light magazine while I was at a residency interview this week. I received a couple new magazine subscriptions for Christmas, and I have set a goal for myself to make a certain amount of recipes from each issue to help keep things interesting around here. If the rest of them are anything like this recipe, we're certainly going to be eating pretty good this year!

We ended up using the prepared pizza dough from Trader Joe's for this pizza because we were making it on pretty short notice. Their dough is really good, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of making our own crust from scratch as I get back in the kitchen. Pizza is one of the things that my husband made on his own while I was gone, and he has his crust-baking technique down. It was perfectly browned and crispy enough to support the moister sauce that came with the extra ricotta cheese. The flavor profile is pretty similar to the chicken pesto pizza that I blogged on just a few posts ago, but the ricotta cheese gives it just enough of a twist that it's different. Just looking at the pictures is making me want to make it again. Enjoy!  

(Printable Recipe)

White Pizza with Tomato and Basil
Adapted from Cooking Light, March 2011

Ingredients:
1 pkg or recipe of prepared pizza dough (we used TJ's herbed dough)
Cooking Spray
3 Tbsp. pesto with basil
3/4 c. shredded light Mozzarella cheese 
1/2 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
2 sliced small tomatoes 
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. small basil leaves, torn

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a stoneware pizza pan in the oven to heat for at least 10 minutes.

Roll out a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover the pizza pan. Stretch or roll out the pizza dough to desired shape and thickness and place on the parchment paper. Lightly coat the crust with cooking spray. Spread pesto evenly over the crust, leaving a 1-inch boarder. Sprinkle Mozarrella cheese evenly over the pesto. Dollop ricotta, by teaspoonfuls, evenly over the Mozzarella. Arrange tomato slices and basil over the pizza. Sprinkle with the black pepper.

Remove the pizza pan from the oven and carefully transfer the parchment paper and pizza to the hot pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is nicely golden-brown. Slice and enjoy.

Pesto