Cherry Tomato Pizza Pie

Is it a pizza pie...or a cherry pie? This deep-dish pie contains your favorite pizza ingredients, plus a layer of cherry tomatoes, under a lattice crust.

Ingredients:

• Small cherry tomatoes
• Olive oil
• 2 portions of your favorite pizza dough
• About 8 oz pizza sauce or tomato sauce
• About 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Your favorite pizza toppings
• One large (about 12-inch) deep-dish pie plate or pan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using enough small cherry tomatoes to cover the top of the pie plate or pan, saute them in a little olive oil for just a few minutes to give them a glistening shine. You want to soften them up a little, but you want them to maintain their shape. Set them aside. Prepare the two portions of pizza dough according to package directions. After they have risen, punch down and take one of them and roll it out. Press it into the pie pan and up the sides. Remove any excess dough. Poke the dough with a fork. Fill with your favorite pizza toppers, including the mozzarella cheese, filling about 1/4th of the way up the side of the pan. Then add the pizza sauce, covering all the other ingredients. Take the cherry tomatoes and arrange them on top of the sauce so that there are no open spaces. Take the remaining pizza dough. Roll it out and cut it into strips about 1/4- wide. Take the strips and create a lattice weave on top of the pizza. Cut away any excess dough. Take the tins of a fork and press down all along the edge of the pizza pie to give it the look of a cherry pie. Bake in the oven about 15 minutes, or until done and crust is golden brown. Let sit for a few minutes before cutting into it.

Number of Servings: 4

Notes from the Cook: The idea for this pizza is to make it look like a cherry pie when it is done. You may add your favorite toppings; you just want to keep them from being seen through the tomatoes.