Thin-crust caprese pizza

Ingredients: 1 pound pizza dough, 2 Roma tomatoes (thinly sliced), 1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped, 8 ounces fresh low-fat mozzarella cheese (sliced), 1 cup prepared low-fat marinara sauce (low-fat), ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon olive oil, balsamic vinegar (optional)

Today's pizza recipe is a fantastic option for Valentine's Day with your loved one because it is easy to execute and it looks impressive. Trust me, you don't need a fancy brick oven to make delicious pizza. I usually save myself some time and hassle by purchasing pizza dough from a local pizza joint. If you're not someone who is comfortable soliciting local businesses for dough (pun intended) then I suggest the pizza dough at Trader Joe's for just over a buck. If the dough was previously refrigerated then it is important to allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 15-30 minutes to make the pizza-rolling process easier. The recipe that follows makes four personal-sized thin crust pizzas so invite another couple over this Valentine's Day or save the extras for lunch the next day. This recipe is also great for family dinners, especially if there are kids in the family. Pizzas are a fun way for the family to get creative. Explore new combinations of fresh toppings and sauces.

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Lightly coat two baking pans with olive oil.

Cut the dough into 4 equal parts. On a clean counter space, sprinkle some flour and roll the dough out as thin as you can.

Place the rolled-out dough onto the pans (two pizzas per pan). Ladle about ¼ cup of marinara sauce onto each pizza. Cut the mozzarella into thin slices and distribute evenly amongst the pizzas. Cut the tomatoes into thin slices and distribute evenly. Place the pans into the oven one at a time for 8-10 minutes per pan or until the cheese starts to bubble and the crust is golden. It's important to only have one pan in the oven at a time to keep the temperature of the oven as high as possible. Remove the pan from the oven and place some chopped basil over the pizzas. Feel free to drizzle some balsamic vinegar over the pizzas for some extra tang. Even better, reduce 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar in a pot over medium heat until the reduction starts to get thick. Then drizzle the balsamic reduction over the pizzas. But that's just my version of this classic Italian dish, now go explore yours. 

Makes 4 servings (one personal pizza each), each serving contains approximately:

340 calories, 25 calories from fat, 8 g fat, 12 mg cholesterol, 700 mg sodium, 55 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 11 g protein

Compare with a personal-sized cheese pizza from Peter Piper Pizza:

462 calories, 104 calories from fat, 11.5 g fat, 33 mg cholesterol, 759 mg sodium, 70 g carbohydrate, 3.4 g fiber, 3.3 g sugar, 21.1 g protein

Data obtained from www.peterpiperpizza.com on November 23, 2011.