This fresh tomato pizza recipe shines in the summer
I think Tomato Season should be its own, added to the other four. Who’s with me?
Yes, I know tomatoes come into their own in the summer, but there is a window of time when they are at their very sweetest and juiciest. That’s when I like to make them the stars of meals. (I’m not alone: See Joe Yonan’s take on the Classic Summer Tomato Sandwich.)
This little pizza does just that. It also allows me to select from the various colors and sizes of tomatoes — yellow, orange, red, big and round, slender and small — that look so tempting this time of year at farmers markets and grocery stores.
If you get a pretty variety, this dish ends up looking a bit like a stained-glass window with the sun coming through, all bright, colorful and shiny.
This recipe was adapted from “Miss Maggie’s Kitchen” by Héloïse Brion (Flammarion, 2020), which has the subtitle “relaxed French entertaining.” The cookbook is one of those fantasy tomes with glorious photos that makes you imagine that this recipe was made with sun-warmed tomatoes plucked from a French garden.
The ingredient list may look a bit long, but preparation is simple and takes just 15 or 20 minutes. First, you slice and cook the onions. While they are browning, you toss multicolored cherry or grape tomatoes and thick slices of large tomatoes with your choice of fresh herbs and a little honey and garlic. For weeknight dinners, I usually buy my pizza dough, if I don’t have any in the freezer. I layer that with creme fraiche, which gives the pizza a little tang, the sweet, browned onions and the varied fresh tomatoes.
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The pizza is baked until the edges are browned and the center bubbly. Then comes the best part: the finish. While the pizza is piping hot, scatter chunks of burrata over, and as they melt into the pizza, you can finish it with a sprinkling of fresh herbs. I like basil, but use your favorite.
Pizzas are easy to customize. If you don’t have creme fraiche, you can use goat cheese or even Greek yogurt. If you prefer meat on your pizza, you could add bits of ham or cooked sausage. One thing I hope you won’t find a substitute for is the burrata. It adds a creamy deliciousness that is difficult to replicate. If you don’t have burrata, however, you could drop small bits of fresh mozzarella or dollops of fresh ricotta.
My only rule for this pizza will be that I will make it only during the summer — during Tomato Season. We’ve tossed it together four times already, cutting it into small chunks and serving it as an appetizer or slicing big slabs for supper. I know we’ll make it again.
Brion writes in her cookbook that “sharing is essential in my life.” I’m glad she shared this recipe, so I could pass it along to you.
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