Bruschetta Pizza

The recipe I use calls for meat and a prebaked shell (you can find that recipe on Taste of Home site by the same name) but I’m going to give you my version of the recipe that I used for the picture above.

Bruschetta Pizza

Yields 8 slices

Topping:

• 1 1/2 cups chopped plump tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced (or about 1 to 2 TBSP of dried)
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 tsp. minced fresh thyme or 1/8 tsp dried thyme (I used an 1/8 tsp of powdered thyme)
• 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper

1. Mix all of the above ingredients together in a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve pizza.

Crust: (I used my Parmesan Pizza Crust recipe from this post but I altered it because I use a stone to bake my pizza’s on)

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
• 1 cup bisquick
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 2 TBSP olive oil (and some for seasoning the stone)
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water.  In the same bowl mix together the bisquick, cheese, sugar, oil, Italian seasoning, and 1 cup flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be slightly sticky).

2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5-6 min. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the cop. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 min. (I usually skip the rising step because I run out of time, but it’s good either way)

3.  Punch dough down; divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 9 in circle, transfer to to pizza pans that are coated with cooking spray (or brushed with olive oil).

4. Put pizza into cold oven and turn it on to 450 degrees F and let cook for about 5 minutes or until crust is slightly golden (DO NOT OVER BAKE). Take pizza out and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on and return to oven until cheese begins to turn golden and bottom of crust is golden.

5.Serve pizza with the prepared topping and enjoy!