Dish of the Week: Margherita Pizza with Vodka Sauce

This weeks dish, Margherita Pizza with Vodka Tomato Sauce, caught my eye one afternoon when I was jogging with the food network on in the background (ironic, I know). It was a show called Ask Aida. The premise of the show is people write in and ask her food questions which she answers during the show that relate to the recipe she is making.

Ingredients:
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (1 pound) fresh pizza dough
Olive oil
10 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, sliced 1/2-inch thick
10 to 20 small basil leaves

Directions:
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F and arrange a rack in the middle.

Heat tomatoes, vodka, and cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until bubbling and vodka smell is cooked off, about 15 minutes. Season, as desired, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile roll pizza dough to a 12-inch round. Drizzle olive oil on a baking sheet to coat and place dough on top. Pierce the dough in several places to prevent it from bubbling up unevenly. Spread sauce evenly over the dough. Evenly distribute mozzarella across pizza and scatter whole basil on top. Drizzle with oil and bake until cheese is melted, and underside of dough is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

The Verdict:
Unfortunately The Doc didn't come home until really late last night and so he didn't get to try this one but I LOVED it so much I decided to post it anyway without the Doc's rating. I will definitely make this again so he'll be able to rate this one in the near future!

My only issue was that my sauce was watery so I need to figure out what to do to fix that. Made some of the crust soft and mushy but the flavors were just so good I didn't care! I used half & half instead of heavy cream which could be the cause so next time I may just suck it up and try the cream.

I also used fire roasted diced tomatoes. Just for something different. I think it worked really well.