Homemade Caprese Pizza, or Margherita Pizza, is made with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and fresh basil. Fresh and simple Italian flavors make this a great dinner recipe for pizza night. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar glaze.
Place your pizza stone (or a large baking sheet) in the oven on the center rack. Preheat to 450F.
Place the halved cherry tomatoes into a small bowl. Combine with the 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar and stir to coat. Set aside to marinate while preparing the rest of the pizza.
Dust your pizza peel with some cornmeal. The cornmeal will give the crust a great texture and bite while also preventing it from sticking to the surface you are working on. Cut the dough in half for two thin crust pizzas.
Roll out one piece of the dough to your desired size, approximately 12" is what I aim for, on the pizza peel and make sure that the size and shape will fit onto your stone or cooking sheet that is in the oven.
Using a fork or knife, poke holes in the dough everywhere except for the crust edge. This will allow air to escape and prevent the dough from bubbling up too much.
Make sure that the dough is loose on the pizza peel by shaking it gently. The dough should move around. If the dough is sticking anywhere, pull up that area and throw some more cornmeal under it until nothing is sticking.
When the oven is done preheating and you are at 450F, open the oven door and throw some cornmeal onto the stone or sheet. Use the pizza peel to shimmy the dough onto the stone/sheet. If you have the cornmeal under the dough, this should be rather easy to do.
Blind bake the dough (without toppings or sauce) for approximately 5 minutes. Pull out the crust using your pizza peel when the dough is not soft to the touch anymore and it is just starting to get some color on it.
Brush the crust edge with some olive oil and sprinkle with some garlic salt, parmesan, and/or oregano to give it some flavor. (Optional but recommended)!
Assembly
Add your sauce and mozzarella cheese. Drain the tomatoes out of the leftover balsamic and place around the pizza. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Put the pizza back in the oven and cook approximately 10-12 minutes longer until the cheese is melting and starting to brown. Let the pizza rest just a couple minutes before serving.
Top the pizza with fresh basil finely chopped or cut into thin strips (julienne). Sprinkle with additional Parmesan if desired. Serve with balsamic glaze or vinegar reduction if desired.