Garden Fresh Bubbly Pizza Bread

We finally have red tomatoes in this part of Minnesota this week. I don't have enough to can yet, but decided to make a special bubbly bread for my family tonight. The garden fresh flavor can also be achieved by shopping at your local farmer's market if you don't grow your own. Here's what you need:

-Some fresh things from your garden or the farmer's market- tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil
-A loaf of French bread
-Butter or olive oil
-Mozzarella cheese

Gather ingredients either from your garden or from the farmers market. I picked about 12 ripe cherry tomatoes and 3 medium sized heartland tomatoes.

Pick Basil (or purchase). I used about 4 stems of regular green basil and a few stems of some licorice-flavored purple basil.

Take a look at your ingredients and see if you have the proper proportion of ingredients equal to the sort of flavor you want to achieve.

According to your preference, prepare your tomatoes. Some people prefer their tomato sauce to have no seeds and no skin. If this is you, you can blanch your tomatoes and then remove the peels that way. You can also put your tomatoes through a food mill and get rid of the seeds by straining. Me, I'm not really that picky so I simply quarter the tomatoes and worry about picking out some of the bigger skins later.

Chop garlic to the consistency you desire. I used about 3 cloves.

Chop onion to the desired consistency. I used about 1/4 a large white onion.

Saute the garlic and onions in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Add the tomatoes to the garlic/onion mixture and saute for about 10 minutes.

Crush tomatoes to make the conglomeration more of a sauce rather than salsa. Cook for about 5 more minutes then remove from heat and remove any big skins if desired.

Chop basil and add to tomato mixture.

Simmer for about 20 minutes so the flavors can combine.

Turn your oven on to about 375-400 for a crispier crust.

Slice the loaf of french bread in half with a bread knife.

Add either olive oil or butter to the tops of the sliced loaf and toast briefly- about 5 minutes.

Spread the sauce on the bread.

I used about 1/4 block of a one pound block of mozzarella cheese. Slice and put on top of the sauce. bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.

Use the bread knife to slice into pieces and serve!