Easy naan bread pizza with roasted tomato sauce

I’ve taken a store bought naan bread and turned it into a delicious base for a pizza because everyone should keep naan bread and tortillas in their freezer for those pizza emergencies. Tortillas give you a super thin base if that’s what you are after, and you can make a tomato based pizza or a bianca version like this or like this. I love the naan bread pizza too. Its a little thicker to handle more robust toppings and with great flavour.

I had a bowl of tomatoes that were about to turn so I whacked them into a large oven tray to roast. It’s my very best way to deal with a borderline tomato. A small glug of olive oil, fresh thyme and a generous sprinkle of Maldon salt and black pepper is all it takes to make a stunning sauce which you can freeze for later use. If you are making a LOT then you can preserve them via a jarring method and store in your cupboard, which is pretty cool. My fridge tends to get so overcrowded with jars, taking far too much real estate away from fresh produce.

I prefer to use fresh mozzarella of the fior di latte or buffalo variety. It’s just so awesome in every way. It makes wonderful soft puddles of cheese on your pizza surface. If you are going to use the rubbery mozzarella, then be sure to add lots of toppings as its fairly bland.

A few slices of Parma ham folded in ribbons over the top and a generous sprinkling of rocket and sliced spring onions finished this pizza off perfectly.

There is no recipe here but to:

Make the roasted tomato sauce – simply fill an oven tray with whatever tomatoes you have. Cherry tomatoes go in whole and larger tomatoes get cut in half or quarters. Drizzle over a little olive oil and season fairly generously with sea salt flakes and black pepper. Add a few sprigs of thyme – and be generous here. Remove a few of the leaves and leave the rest on the stalks. They are easy to remove after the tomatoes have roasted. Roast in a 180 c / 350 F oven for an hour (or 40 minutes if you are only roasting cherry toms). I sometimes roast a little hotter. It doesn’t really matter. Give the pan a shake very now and again during the roasting time. Once roasted remove, cool slightly, take out the thyme stalks and then whizz through a food processor or use a stick blender until you get a nice chunky sauce.

To prepare the naan – heat up a large non-stick frying pan. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil. Briefly sear the one side and then flip in the pan and sear the other a little longer. This side will become the base. Naan bread starts to puff up in this process. You can definitely make these pizzas without doing this pan searing stage, but I like to really crisp them up.

To make the pizza – pre heat the oven to 200C / 400F and place the naan bread on a pizza tray with holes. Top with a layer of roasted tomato sauce. In a pinch I have used a store-bought pasta sauce, which works brilliantly too. Tear the mozzarella up into small chunks and arrange across the pizza. One small ball will cover 2 smallish naan breads. Roast for 6 minutes until the cheese has melted and starts to bubble. Remove and top with Parma ham, fresh rocket and spring onions. Finely sliced red onions are also delicious.

Pizza Jaffles are another great way to do a cheats ‘pizza’ when you need your fix

I recently shot a few images for Comessa Foods for their website. They are the producers of these lovely naan breads. They also make a range of rotis and tortilla wraps available in Pick n Pay and Spar throughout South Africa. I find them all so versatile and the best thing to have on hand to make a plethora of recipes.

These are the 3 images I styled and shot for them: