Oven-Roasted Tomato and Garlic Pizza with Burrata by Alexandra Stafford
*Alexandra uses the Baking Steel in place of a pizza stone in her oven.
I have a weekend project for you: Tom Colicchio's oven-roasted tomatoes. This recipe has been bookmarked in my Think Like a Chef cookbook for about 10 years now, and I am kicking myself for waiting so long to make it.
The method is simple: halved tomatoes roast for 20 minutes with garlic, olive oil, and thyme. After the 20 minutes, you peel the skins, which slip off effortlessly. Finally, you return the pan to the oven for 3 to 4 more hours, during which time all of the flavors concentrate, the garlic caramelizing into sweet, spreadable cloves. Your kitchen will smell amazing.
These tomatoes can be used in anything from bruschetta to risotto, but I love them best paired with their roasted garlic cloves on pizza topped with something creamy like burrata or ricotta, a sprinkling of sea salt and fresh basil at the end. This is a great recipe to make now, when the tomatoes aren't quite at their prime, and it will be a great recipe to make at the end of the fall, as tomato season comes to a close, and you find yourself making every effort to preserve the sweetest flavor of summer. Just don't make the same mistake I did: I hope your next decade sees many of these roasted-tomato topped pies.
Recipes:
Oven-Roasted Tomato-and-Garlic Pizza with Burrata 1 round pizza dough (Lahey Dough recipe below) 1 to 2 oven-roasted tomatoes depending on size (recipe below) 4 or 5 roasted garlic cloves (from the roasted tomatoes recipe) 1 ball burrata (you likely only need half) sea salt for finishing & small handful fresh basil
1. Place your Baking Steel in the oven and preheat your oven to 550ºF. Allow Steel to heat for 45 minutes.
2. About 30 minutes before baking, remove pizza dough from fridge and place on a lightly floured work surface. Place a sheet of parchment paper onto your pizza peel.
3. Meanwhile, chop up the tomatoes.
4. Gently stretch your pizza round into a circle, roughly 11 inches in diameter. (Note: You can do this in the air using the backs of your hands to gently stretch out the dough; or you can do this on the surface of your board.) Place dough onto parchment paper-topped peel. Spread tomatoes over the surface. Scatter garlic cloves overtop. Cut burrata into smallish chunks and spread evenly overtop. Sprinkle sea salt over assembled pie.
5. Shimmy your dough onto your Steel. Bake until dough is blistered on the edges, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle basil overtop. Cut and serve immediately.
Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
Slightly adapted from Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef
10 to 12 ripe medium tomatoes, cored and halved crosswise (about 3 pounds) 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 head garlic, separated into cloves (about 15) 4 thyme sprigs 1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side down, on the baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and scatter the garlic and thyme on top. Note: Do core the tomatoes as instructed in the ingredient list — I was lazy and didn't, and ended up kicking myself later. 2. Roast the tomatoes for about 20 minutes, or until the skins begin to wrinkle. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully pull off the tomato skins. Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast the tomatoes until they are slightly shrunken and appear cooked and concentrated but not yet dry, about 3 to 4 hours longer. Note: I cooked mine for 3 hours, but I think this time will vary depending on your tomatoes, so start checking around 3 hours or sooner. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets. Peel the garlic and discard the skins and the thyme. Transfer tomatoes and garlic and juices to a storage container, and keep in the refrigerator for a week or so.
Lahey Pizza Dough:
1000 grams flour, preferably tipo 00, plus more for shaping dough 4 teaspoons fine sea salt 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1. Whisk flour, salt, and yeast in a medium bowl. While stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually add 3 cups water; stir until well incorporated. Mix dough gently with your hands to bring it together and form into a rough ball. Transfer to a large clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature (about 72°) in a draft-free area until surface is covered with tiny bubbles and dough has more than doubled in size, about 18 hours (time will vary depending on the temperature in the room).
2. Transfer dough to a floured work surface. Gently shape dough into a rough rectangle. Divide into 6 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time, gather 4 corners to center to create 4 folds. Turn seam side down and mold gently into a ball. Dust dough with flour; set aside on work surface or a floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining portions.
3. Let dough rest, covered with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, until soft and pliable, about 1 hour. Wrap each dough ball separately in plastic wrap and chill.
-- Alexandra Stafford
