Capture the flavor of authentic Italian pizza with minimal effort. Great as a lunch, snack or appetizer. Yes, using a flatbread as a crust is cheating and not what they would do in Italy, but it cuts the time significantly and this captures the aroma, taste and feel of Pizza Margherita without spending all day in the kitchen.

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Ingredients- Sauce

• 1 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes (or petite diced tomatoes mashed well with a potato masher if you like bigger chunks of tomato)
• 3 cloves of garlic minced (or 1 Tbsp of of pre-minced garlic in a jar)
• 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning (or use oregano if you don’t have Italian seasoning blend)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt

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Ingredients – Crust & Toppings

• Packaged flatbread – I bought the rectangular ones that come in a two count package. This recipe makes two medium or one very large pizza.
• 4 Tbsp finely grated Reggiano or Parmesan cheese
• 7-8 oz of fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Remove any excess water with a paper towel.
• 5-6 Large basil leaves (fresh), cut into strips.
• One small tomato cut into very thin slices – optional. You can see in the pictures I skipped these and we still had an excellent pizza.
• Red pepper flakes – optional

Directions

1. Preheat Oven to 500 degrees (you read that right, 500 degrees Fahrenheit)
2. Put your flatbread on a metal baking sheet or cookie sheet. DO NOT use parchment paper to line the baking sheet, but you can use aluminum foil to make clean-up easier.
3. Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well with a spoon.

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1. Roll up basil leaves from tip to stem (like a cigar) and slice them. You can use small leave whole or just cut in half.
2. Cut the fresh mozzarella into 1/2 in pieces.
3. Spoon sauce over flatbread. How much depends on the size of your flatbread, but you will have sauce left over, don’t feel like you have to use it all.

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1. Sprinkle grated cheese over the sauce, then add your fresh mozzarella and basil leaves. Spread things out, you don’t need total coverage with the cheese and basil.
2. You can add some thin slices of whole tomato or pepperoni as well if you like.
3. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. It’s done when the mozzarella is melted and just starting to brown.
4. Cut into pieces and serve.

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