Ausonia Appetizer

I had a lot of difficulty coming up with a name for this dish.  I feel sure I'll revisit it in the future with revisions because of its versatility and endless possibilities. Technically, this is a "can-o-dis" recipe because its basis is a refrigerated, canned roll of Pillsbury pizza crust dough.  I know that any proud Sicilian, denizen of Rome or even a New Yorker would condemn me in the strongest possible terms for using such an abomination of industrialized, processed foodstuffs, but I don't care.  There are other ways to make a decent pizza crust, but none easier, and I'm as much an old man as I am a proud culinarian. This is delicious.  Prove me wrong.

But back to the name for a moment.  The inspiration for this dish came from the One Little Project website and passed along to me from My Number One Fan, called "Easy Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks."  What a horrible moniker. 

First, "bread sticks" is two words.  Second, it isn't really a stick at all, is it?  It's a pizza cut into rectangles.  Third, garlic and cheese should be just a foundation for what essentially is an appetizer, but the array of possible toppings would ultimately determine if this could be something more toward a meal, like a whole dinner.  

In fact, I think making four of these with different toppings and a salad on the side would make a splendid supper for four.  Regardless, this is closest in style to a Sicilian dough with a Neapolitan topping, so I decided to take the ancient Greek name for lower Italy, Ausonia, to avoid any regional culinary conflict among pizza snobs who would take exception to my methods.

On this occasion, I modified the original version of this recipe from One Little Project by taking a page from the Pizza Margherita playbook, and topped my pizza with thinly sliced Roma tomatoes and leaves of fresh torn basil.  Along with fresh mozzarella, this blend of ingredients was made famous in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Naples because they had colors of the Italian flag. The dish was  named after the ruling monarch at the time, Queen Margherita of Savoy.  I didn't use fresh mozzarella in this recipe, opting for the more traditional aged variety, but that's a thought for next time.  And I strongly recommend using Roma tomatoes for this recipe.  Their slender, firm texture makes for the perfect pizza topping.

Ingredients
1 13.8-oz can of refrigerated pizza dough (like, Pillsbury "Classic Crust")
3 tbsp butter, melted in the microwave oven
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
2 small Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
handful fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese, thick shredded (like, Tillamook "Farmstyle Thick Cut")
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam olive oil)

The Recipe
Preheat the oven to 425F degrees with a rack in the top 1/4 of your oven.

Line a sheet pan or cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray, then roll out the pizza crust on top.

Add the garlic powder and oregano to the melted butter, and using a basting or pastry brush, liberally slather on the melted butter mixture over the top of the dough.

Put the dough into the oven for 7-8 minutes to par-bake it, then remove to your work surface.

Lay out the Roma tomatoes end-to-end in a straight line at the top and bottom of the dough rectangle.  You'll get about seven of them in a single line.  Place torn fresh basil leaves on top of each Roma tomato slice.

Using a pizza cutter and the Roma tomatoes as your guide for width, slice the dough into 7 individual strips; then, by making a cut down the lengthwise center of the dough, divide the two sides so that you have 14 individual rectangular slices.

Top with the two cheeses, Parmesan first.

Bake for 8-12 minutes until the cheese has melted and the crust is taking on a golden brown color.

Use the pizza cutter to follow your previous cuts in the pizza crust to separate the rectangles for serving.

For some extra pizza pizazz, serve along side dipping sauces of marinara sauce and a spicy Ranch Dressing dip.