Margherita Tortilla Pizzas

Ryan gets a subscription to "Food and Wine" magazine, and yesterday I was flipping through the July 2009 issue and came across this recipe by chef Jacques Pepin. I thought it sounded delicious and simple enough for me to actually pull off. It was the first time I had ever used our pizza stones, and I loved the way these turned out. They were nice and light, so easy to make, and wonderfully fresh. Fresh mozzarella is one of my favorite things in the world to eat.

Margherita Tortilla Pizzas:

Four 10-inch flour tortillas
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 medium tomatoes (2 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound fresh mozzarella, preferably buffalo, shredded (4 cups)
1 cup finely shredded basil leaves

(Bonny's note: I did not use buffalo mozzarella--just fresh cow's milk mozzarella. I also didn't shred it, but rather cut slices off and placed those around the pizza.)

1. Set a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees, allowing at least 45 minutes for the stone to heat.
2. Brush both sides of one tortilla with olive oil. Place the tortilla on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Thinly slice 1 tomato; arrange on the tortilla. Season with salt and pepper and top with 1 cup of the mozzarella. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.
3. Slide the tortilla onto the hot pizza stone and bake for about 8 minutes, until the pizza is crisp on the bottom and the cheese is bubbling. Garnish with 1/4 cup of the shredded basil, cut the pizza into 8 wedges and serve. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, tomatoes, cheese, and basil.

Bonny's notes: I used two pizza stones so we could have two cooking at once. My stones were also plenty hot after only 30 minutes, and the pizzas were done after about 7 minutes. These are so nice and versatile--you could really make them with anything. We topped a couple of ours with some cooked chicken. Delicious!