Thin Crust Pizza with Tomatoes, Kale and Chevre

Oi. I want to take great care in saying this, to ensure that I don’t say something I’ll later regret.

This is. The best pizza.  I have ever tasted.

I’m racking my brain trying to remember a better pizza.  Even in Venice, when I had pizza in a cavern turned into a restaurant, with house red wine and tiramisu… yeah, I’m sorry, this is still the best pizza I’ve ever tasted.

I feel like a big bully.

I don’t know where to go from here, besides to give you the recipe for this magnificent specimen of a pie, which I ate for two days in a row and was just as good leftover as it was fresh out of the oven.

Thin Crust Pizza with Tomatoes, Kale, and Chevre

For the Crust:
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup olive oil

For the Pizza:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 ripe tomato, thinly sliced
1 stalk fresh kale
1/3 cup crumbled fromage du chevre (a nice way to say goat cheese)

For the Crust:
This recipe makes 2-3 pizza crusts, and can be stored in the fridge for up to 6 days. Make this ahead of time and use it again for more pizza throughout the week.

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (about 100 degrees) water in a small bowl.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl with a moist tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place (like the laundry room) for 1-2 hours. Use right away or store in the fridge until you need it.

When you’re ready to make the pizza:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Roll out 1/3 of the pizza dough as thinly as possible. Place on a pizza stone or baking sheet.

Drizzle olive oil over the entire surface of the pizza. Spread minced garlic over olive oil. Lay mozzarella all over the surface. Lay the tomato slices over cheese. Cut the leafy part of the kale away from the stalk, and rip into small pieces. Rub your hands in olive oil, and rub each leaf so that it gets a light coating of oil. Lay the pieces of kale on the surface of the pizza in the spaces between tomato slices. Sprinkle chevre over all.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Cut into wedges and serve immediately!

-Kelsey May