tomato basil pizza

Judging by the content of food blogs and food magazines, you'd think every gardener had bumper crops of tomatoes, but that's not the case with me. Not exactly. 

I have two tomato plants, both volunteers, and one is about 3 times the size of the other. So I guess I have like one and a third tomato plants, not two. Until the past week or so, I was fighting with the snails, who liked to eat chunks out of each tomato just as they turned red (the tomatoes, not the snails). I have no idea what happened to the snails (I was not doing anything to get rid of them), but now I'm relieved that I can finally allow the tomatoes to ripen on the vine and stop picking them as soon as they turn the faintest shade of red. 

In contrast to past years, I haven't bothered to keep track of the garden's productivity. I have no idea how many pounds of tomatoes each plant produces, but I estimate that every week or so, I find myself trying to figure out what to do with the ones that just seemingly appear on my windowsill.  

Last weekend, I made pizza, which was, for the most part, from the Pioneer Woman's recipe (though the crust is from the Smitten Kitchen. While the tomatoes marinate in balsamic vinegar, sauteed garlic, and basil, I par-baked the crust and then assembled the bottom layers of the pizza-- pesto, parmesan, and mozzarella. I returned the pizza to the oven to melt the cheese, then topped it with tomatoes, and returned it to the oven long enough to warm the tomatoes. 

The pizza must have been good because, and this is embarrassing to admit, I ate it in two sittings.