Today is another Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the secret recipe club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.
This month I was assigned Jaime’s blog Mom’s Test Kitchen. I know it sounds silly, but my favorite thing about her blog is her tagline “What the Fork’s for Dinner.” Her About Me section is very well written and makes me laugh in all the right places. Particularly the part about the unexpected arrival of Princess P. Being pregnant, it’s fun to feel connected to Jaime as she shares her loving frustrations with pregnancy. (But sorry, Jaime, I actually LOVE being pregnant! But it probably helps that I still have yet to be touched by complete strangers – 9 weeks to go!) After becoming a stay-at-home-mom, Jaime started her blog as a way to keep organized and reawaken her adult self. Since then her “corner of the blog world” has boomed into the very impressive blog that she currently runs; Jaime participates in multiple Link Parties and features guest posts!
Pregnancy cravings have had me wanting to run to the nearest Dunkin (thankfully that’s 20 miles away and the efficiency-lover in me prevails) so I am very impressed that I didn’t recreate her Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins for this blog post (there’s still a good possibility I’ll end up making them). Due to Lent no-meat Fridays I was drawn to this Easy Vegetable Pot Pie, but it turned out that I don’t think I ever ended up cooking on Fridays – strange. But then a recent post on April 3rd sealed the deal: Candied Tomato Margherita Pizza.
I made this pizza after church on Easter Sunday (so her Empty Tomb Buns were a big contender too; but I’ll save them for when my future child is old enough to understand). Because I made this on Easter Sunday, a day when grocery stores were closed, my shopping fail in forgetting to buy fresh basil couldn’t be remedied. So naturally, I substituted bacon.
I used my pizza dough recipe and made 3 personal pizzas for Stuart and me to share. (The fourth ball of dough is now living in my freezer for another day.) The first I topped with the candied tomatoes and some crispy bacon. But it really was needed that something. That something was the basil I didn’t have. At least one of us had a head on our shoulders and Stuart suggested using the dried basil out of the spice cabinet. Perfect! Being the meat eater that he his, Stuart enjoyed the bonus bacon but I don’t feel it really added anything to the pizza so one of our 3 pizzas didn’t have any on it.
If you’ve never candied tomatoes – I hadn’t before this – I urge you to make some now. Put them on this pizza, put them in a sandwich, or eat them plain, I don’t care. But I do insist that you add tomatoes and brown sugar to your grocery list.
Candied Tomato Pizza
Ingredients:
- 4 firm roma tomatoes, thickly sliced
- 1/2 – 1 C brown sugar
- 3 strips bacon, chopped (optional)
- 1 pizza crust, store bought or homemade
- 3-4 tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 1 – 2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
- basil, dried or fresh
- cornmeal
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Starting with 1/2 C of brown sugar, coat both sides of the tomatoes with sugar. Use more sugar if needed. Place tomatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Flip the tomatoes and bake another 15 minutes.
- Place pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F (or follow instructions for your particular dough).
- Roll pizza dough out and place on pizza peal (or rimless cookie sheet) that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Brush entire crust with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, top with cheese, basil, candied tomatoes, and bacon.
- Bake for 9 minutes (or follow instructions for your particular dough).
*This recipe is adapted from Jaime at http://momstestkitchen.com/2014/04/candied-margherita-pizza.html*
To see the other bloggers who participated in the Secret Recipe Club this month click here:
Sew You Think You Can Cook 
Great SRC pick! I love pizza of any kind! Happy Reveal Day:) Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines
Pizza is definitely a favorite of mine.
I’m totally making this!! Candied tomatoes are about to become my favorite ingredient!! Pinning right now.
I seriously could have eaten them like candy. A healthy candy 😉
We are pizza fanatics around here. This sounds delicious! Great pick this month 🙂
Thanks! I could eat pizza every day.
Oh my tummy is growling and it’s not even 8 am! This pizza looks SO good!!! Happy Reveal Day!
Haha! Thanks. 🙂
You have me at “candied tomato” – what a great topping for pizza! We make pizza from scratch on a regular basis, so I’m saving this idea for my next adventure
It’s perfect for brunch, lunch, or dinner. Such a unique sweetness that can’t be beat!
Sold!
Mmmm… great choice this month. That looks divine!!
Thanks! It really is. I’ll probably be making it again this week, I have some cherry tomatoes in the fridge that need to be eaten!
Ooh, I love the sound of those candied tomatoes. Yum!! What a great choice!
Thanks. They were too hard to pass up.
My mom makes a pasta with candied tomatoes that I LOVE, I will definitely be trying this recipe! Sounds delish!
Sounds wonderful!
There’s nothing better than homemade pizza… this one is beautiful!
Thank you! I was bummed when it rained all day so my photos didn’t turn out as I’d hoped, but the important thing is that the pizza is fantastic!
Candied tomatoes? Oh man that sounds good.
Candying tomatoes will even make the not-so-awesome not-in-season tomatoes delicious!
These pictures look great!
Aw, thank you!
I have never had candied tomatoes before. Definitely need to try this!
I hadn’t either. They’re incredible.
OMG, what’s not to love about candied tomatoes?! This is a great looking pizza, and I know the addition of the bacon would be particularly welcomed by a certain person around here.
Sue
There is absolutely nothing not to love about candied tomatoes! 🙂
Those tomatoes look AMAZING. WOW! 🙂
Visiting from group A 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Wow! Now that is a delicious looking pizza! Fabulous pick for SRC this month! And congrats on only 9 more weeks left of being pregnant! YOU CAN DO IT! 🙂
Haha thanks! 🙂
I love Jaime’s blog and love her tag line too. Your pizza looks delish!
Awe, thanks Lauren {blushing}
Bacon is always the perfect sub for basil!
😉
You’ve only got 9 weeks left in your pregnancy & no one has randomly rubbed your belly??! That’s totally unfair! 😉 Congrats on your soon to be addition! You’re going to love every minute of it!! 🙂
I’m so glad you liked the pizza! And I love that you added bacon! YUM!! Going to have to try that myself!
Happy {belated} Reveal Day! 🙂
mouth watering looking pizza!
hello from group d!
I love the candied tomato idea. Just last night I ate a pizza with tomatoes soaked in Bloody Mary mix and then roasted. Now I see this unique idea and am in tomato heaven. I am looking forward to trying this pizza in a few weeks when fresh summer tomatoes are in season.
Oh my that sounds like a good idea for brunch!