The bounty of summer

Our tomatoes are coming in, slowly but surely from our upside-down planter and so far -- knock on wood -- there is no sign of the tomato caterpillars that have destroyed my crops in previous years. We have had a lot of problems with blossom drop and I've been adding egg shells and more potting soil, which seems to have helped.

The tomatoes that are doing the best are the small red, tomatoes and the San Marzano tomatoes, which are thriving. They have just started to ripen, so I took the first San Marzano (the little tomatoes I just eat straight up with ground sea salt) tomato and decided to make it into a grilled pizza.

We went to the best Von's in Ventura (at the corner of Victoria and Telegraph) to do our weekly shopping. Off to the side, we found something called Flatout Flatbread, light original. What makes this especially appealing are the 6 effective carbs per piece, which is made from whole grains. There is a picture on the label that promises that it "Makes Great Pizza!" And I thought -- really?

Our oven isn't working these days, so I knew I'd have to make whatever creation I came up with on the grill. I had the idea of incorporating the delicious tomatoes and basil from my garden with some buffalo mozzarella and grated cheese. The tomato/basil combination is one of the reason I love summer so much and I try to make as many versions as I can each season.

Rob was psyched, but wanted a more traditional pizza with sauce and cheese. I grilled my pizza directly on the grill and Rob had the idea of using aluminum foil. I thought his idea was brilliant until he cooked his and it became a soupy, gloopy mess. The direct grilling made the pizza crisp, but watch it, it will burn quickly.

Grilled caprese pizza

1 Flatout flatbread light original
olive oil
1 San Marzano or roma tomato, thinly sliced
5-6 whole basil leaves, ripped by hand into small pieces, or cut into a chiffonade
2 small balls of buffalo mozzarella broken into small pieces
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Brush the flat bread on both sides with olive oil. Top the flatbread with sliced tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. Put pizza directly on the grill over medium heat, watching carefully, for about 2-3 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with Parmesan. Slice and serve.