Whole Wheat Pizza with Fresh Tomato, Basil, Balsamic and Pine Nuts

Finally, the last pizza crust from last weekend is coming out. I can now safely say the pizza crust holds fine for a week in the refrigerator. I stored mine on a half sheet pan that I wrapped well in plastic film.

Today’s pizza is light and fresh. I used a tomato from the local farmers’ market this morning, basil from the yard, and my favorite balsamic vinegar. I couldn’t resist a little drizzle of good olive oil as the finishing touch. This is one of my favorite pizzas. I like the freshness from the basil and the lightness. The balsamic vinegar adds just the right amount of richness without being too heavy.

Whole Wheat Pizza with Fresh Tomato, Basil, Balsamic and Pine Nuts
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/5 of the whole wheat pizza dough recipe
1 large ripe tomato, sliced thinly
a little kosher salt for the tomato
½ tablespoon of good balsamic vinegar
12 – 14 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons
½ tablespoon of pine nuts, toasted
½ teaspoon of unfiltered extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the pizza stone on the top rack.

Prepare the pizza crust according to the directions. If you made the crust previously, as was the case at my house today, remove the pizza crust from the refrigerator and allow it to gently reheat on the top of the stove while the oven comes to temperature.

Meanwhile slice the tomato as thinly as possible and sprinkle it evenly with a little kosher salt. You want the liquid to come out of the tomato now and not when it is on top of your pizza crust.

When the oven has come to temperature use a paper towel to blot the water from the tomato. You want the tomato as dry as possible, without becoming obsessive.

Place the tomato slices on top the pizza crust (which is now on the pizza peel). Sprinkle the tomato slices evenly with the balsamic vinegar. Slide the pizza into the oven and cook for 8 minutes.

Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the fresh balsamic, toasted pine nuts and good olive oil. I also add freshly cracked black pepper because I husband thinks everything is better with pepper.

Serve the pizza while it is still hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 325.47
Calories From Fat (23%) - 73.48

Total Fat - 9.97g
Saturated Fat - 0.73g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 247.05mg
Potassium - 270.35mg
Total Carbohydrates - 61.12g
Fiber - 7.16g
Sugar - 4.6g
Protein - 9.18g

Comments:

This is one of my favorite pizzas to make. I know many people think it can’t be pizza without cheese but I love this pizza. Good fresh local tomatoes are very important to this pizza since there are so few flavors. I also use an 18 year old balsamic, again because there are so few flavors. The basil came from our garden and was picked a few minutes before I used it. The unfiltered olive oil was used because it has a bigger olive flavor. A good quality extra virgin olive oil would also be fine.