Cooking Tip of the Day: Recipe: White Tomato & Herb Pizza

This recipe for White Tomato and Herb Pizza is a quick and easy little appetizer, snack or light lunch… made with frozen puff pastry dough sheets, it takes minutes to prepare.

Farmer’s Markets are chock full of fabulous tomatoes and if you went to a market.. you must have gotten some… so you can enjoy those tomatoes with this tasty little snack.

I adapted the recipe slightly from a Pepperidge Farm recipe I found. While it looked pretty, I thought their recipe was too bland so I made a few changes.

They used fresh basil, I omitted the fresh basil and used a sprinkling of Italian seasoning and garlic salt instead. I also used shredded Parmesan cheese, not grated and I used more of it… and I added finely shredded mozzarella cheese to the top. .. and finally .. I added sliced black olives to add even more flavor. I also used less olive oil.

So let’s get started.. but first, as always, a few tips…

TIPS

The original recipe called for using both puff pastry dough sheets in the box and making a bigger pizza. We are only two of us, so I made only one sheet. If you want to make the larger pizza… simply thaw both sheets and lay them in 9 x 13 baking pan and press the ends together… then follow the rest of my instructions since they are the same as if you were making the smaller version.

I wrote the recipe using the full amount of the ricotta cheese mixture that Pepperidge Farms listed for the larger pizza. We decided to use all the cheese and eat the pizza with a fork… although you could eat it as finger food if you wait for the pizza too cool down a bit.. we tasted it and devoured it.. no time to wait for us!

We like a cheesy pizza.. so we thought the original amount of ricotta used in the recipe for the larger pizza would not be enough if we made the larger pizza so we didn’t decrease the amount when making a smaller version…

If you like a cheesy pizza and want to make the larger size, increase the amount of your ricotta cheese mixture… you could double it or increase it by whatever amount you like… it only has two ingredients so it’s easy enough to do.

I used a garlic flavored olive oil. Instead of drizzling it over the pastry, I brushed it on. I did not want my pizza greasy and found my method to be perfect.

I recommend you use Roma tomatoes because they have less water in them and won’t run.

Reminder… this recipe as written will make a small pizza… 6 square pieces.. enough for 2-3 people for a lunch or snack.

This tasty treat is perfect for a late Sunday afternoon snack.. I hope you try it.

Recipe: White Tomato and Herb Pizza

All you need:

1 box (2 sheets) Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Dough Sheets, thawed
Olive oil
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
¼ - ½ cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese
Roma tomatoes, sliced
Sliced black olives
Sprinkling of Italian seasoning
Sprinkling of garlic salt

All you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a small baking pan with sides with parchment paper.

Place the thawed puff pastry dough sheet in the pan… if the pan is larger than the dough… that’s okay.. simply fold a small amount of dough over to form a crust around the edge.

Pierce the bottom about 6 times with a fork.

Brush the dough with the olive oil.

In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta and ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese. Reserve the remaining ¼ cup of shredded Parmesan for sprinkling on top of the pizza.

Spread the ricotta mixture over the dough leaving the folded crust edge alone (if you folded the dough).

Lay the tomatoes on top and sprinkle with sliced black olives.

Sprinkle the Italian seasoning and garlic salt over the top.

Then sprinkle the remaining shredded Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.