Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Pizza

I'm still trying to use up all of the cherry tomatoes I harvested (green) a week ago, as I mentioned in my last post: Green Nightshade Berry Cake.  Those green tomatoes have now counter-ripened into a nice red color.  I came home from work and wondered, "What am I going to make for dinner... and should I try to use these cherry tomatoes"?

The answer was this really easy pizza that I put together in under 45 minutes.  Normally, I prefer to make pizza dough from scratch - but weeknights are too short to wait for pizza dough to rise.  So I thought, why not give Pillsbury pizza dough a try? 

Last week, I bought a can of the Pillsbury pizza dough, thinking I might experiment with it to see how it compares with a pre-baked Boboli style crust.  I was actually quite impressed with the quality of the Pillsbury pizza dough - it had a fresh baked taste, which you never get from a Boboli. 

Roasted Tomato & Goat Cheese Pizza:
1 can (11 oz.) Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough
3 c. cherry tomatoes (or 3-4 large tomatoes)
1 tsp. sea salt
2 T. olive oil, divided
1 small log of goat cheese
1 tsp. dried basil
2-3 T. grated Parmesan Cheese
4 oz. pepperoni (optional)

1.  Cover a baking sheet with foil.  Half the cherry tomatoes, and put them on the baking sheet.  Drizzle with 1 T. olive oil, and sprinkle with the sea salt.  Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees until caramelized (but not burnt).

2.  Remove the crust from the can, and lay out on a large cookie sheet.  Pre-bake for 5 minutes, according to the package directions.

3.  Remove the crust from the oven, and brush with the remaining 1 T. of olive oil.  Spread the roasted cherry tomatoes over the crust.

4.  Crumble the goat cheese over the tomatoes, then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

5.  Sprinkle with the dried basil.  Top with pepperoni, if desired.

6.  Bake at 400 degrees (according to package directions) for 10-15 more minutes.