Phyllo Pizza With Mozzarella Cheese And Cherry Tomatoes

I can think of a few in our family who will run from this recipe (they don’t like tomatoes) so change it and add whatever you will eat, basically. This is a simple pizza without heavy foods piled on top. After all, it is a phyllo dough. Actually, I can see my son-in-law making this. He makes a mean bruschetta as well.

This would make an awesome hors d’oeurve in the summer, on the patio, glass of wine in hand…what else is there?

• 12-14 oz. pear shaped and/or cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• generous pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 12 – 12 x 9 inch sheets of frozen phyllo pastry, thawed
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 5-6 tbsp. finely grated Asiagpo cheese, packed, divided
• 1/2 orange or yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 2 tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the tomatoes with oil, salt and dried basil in a medium bowl; and scatter on an parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until they start to collapse (about 18-20 minutes).

Remove from the oven and let the tomatoes cool down. Keep the oven temperature at 400 degrees.

Place the phyllo on a work surface and cover with a damp towel. Place 1 sheet at a time on a baking sheet and brush with melted butter (Another neat trick here is to melt the butter and place in a spray bottle. Just mist the dough with the melted butter. Stack each sheet, one at a time, misting each one. Every third layer of dough, also sprinkle some of the Asiago cheese. This will use up the cheese by the time you finish the layers.

Leave a 1 inch border all around the pizza without anything on it.

Top with the roasted tomatoes, pepper strips and fresh basil and bake for about 25-27 minutes. Loosen with a large spatula and slide onto a cutting board. Slice into squares and serve.

As I mentioned before, pour a glass of chilled white wine, invite some friends, serve this pizza and the conversation and laughter will abound.

Enjoy!