Caprese Flatbread

This is an all-time favorite recipe. I first had Caprese Flatbread at Olive Garden. I love that they post recipe's on their website. They have this recipe and even a video tutorial that you can see here.

After making this dozens of times, I have made some alterations to the recipe. The following recipe is my version of Olive Garden's Caprese Flatbread.

8 Roma or plum tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
3/4-1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2-3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
20 medium fresh basil leaves, stemmed and chopped (about ½ cup), or basil pesto
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
14 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
11 oz container of refrigerated thin crust pizza dough

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Dice tomatoes into small pieces. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Add garlic, salt, pepper, ½ of chopped basil (or 1 TBSP basil pesto), and 4 Tbsp olive oil.

Set aside and allow mixture to marinate for 10 minutes.

Flatten pizza dough into rectangle pan as indicated on package, reaching to pan edges.

Drizzle dough with olive oil and brush it over dough.

Bake dough at 350ºF for 10 minutes on center rack. Remove crust from pan and place on center rack of the oven until bottom is crispy.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, about 10 minutes.

Increase oven temperature to 450ºF.

Combine mayonnaise and garlic powder in a mixing bowl. Evenly spread onto the bread’s surface.

*** If using basil pesto instead of fresh basil, spread a thin, even layer of pesto on top of the mayonnaise mixture.

Top with shredded mozzarella to evenly cover surface.

Drain tomato mixture and spread evenly over the bread.

Srinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Return flatbread to oven for 5-7 more minutes or until golden, crisp and bubbly.

Garnish with remaining chopped basil and serve.

***I prefer to make my flatbread with pesto instead of fresh basil. But to do this you need a really good pesto.