Pizza Margherita

You know, living in central Pennsylvania for the past four years really cramped my pizza style. I'm not saying that I didn't love late night Bella's or even the occasional Canyon if I were on that side of campus ($1.00 jumbo slice, OKAY), but let's get real. That wasn't good pizza.Sure, drowned in ranch, it hits the spot, and the ambiance is "so college," but essentially you're eating grease on cardboard. Sorry State College, but your pizza ain't where it's at.

But, I must say, finding good pizza in northern Virginia (yes, I could go to D.C.) is not that easy! So, I've taken it upon myself to create the good stuff here at home in my own little kitchen.

I've done it before-- if you've been reading my blog you've seen my pineapple pizza creations-- the best. But, in an attempt to lure my mat-oor tastebuds out, I went for something a little more exotic. That's not the right word. Margherita pizza is not exotic. It is, however, delicious, simple, and no brainer when it comes to the most popular food in our country.

I'm definitely a fan of Cooking Light (obviously) so this recipe was their idea made with several modifications from me.  Serves 5!

What ya need for the toppings:

Store bought pizza dough (I used Pilsbury thin crust. You can make your own dough here but I was feeling lazy)
Garlic Powder
Oregano
8 oz freshly sliced mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup fresh basil (torn, not chopped!)
1/2 red onion

What ya need for the sauce:

2  tablespoons  extra-virgin olive oil

5  garlic cloves, minced

1  (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes

1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt

1/2  teaspoon  dried oregano

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What ya do:

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove tomatoes from can using a slotted spoon, reserving juices. Crush tomatoes. Stir tomatoes, juices, salt, and oregano into garlic mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, bake your pizza dough according to directions on the box/tube/package. Put Sprinkle oregano and garlic powder over dough.

After dough is prebaked, add pizza sauce, mozzarella, red onion and basil evenly over the dough. Bake about 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

Nutritional Information:

Calories:421

Fat: 10.9g (sat 4.7g,mono 4.7g,poly 1g)

Protein:16.9g

Carbohydrate:62.8g

Fiber:6.5g

Cholesterol:22mg

Iron:4.4mg

Sodium:754mg

Calcium:267mg

Relatively easy and VERY good. A nice substitute to Papa John's, that's fa sho. Give it a try for a fresh switch up!