Thursday, December 14, 2006

Homemade Pizza



It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even at suppertime. Tonight's pizza features onions, and red and green sweet peppers.

Crust:
You may cut this in half. This is my original recipe, but I've found that halving it makes plenty for two, and has a thinner crust. Try it both ways and see which suits you best.

2 T. yeast and 1 t. sugar dissolved in 1/2 c. warm water. Let rise.

In the meantime, mix together the following. I use my KitchenAid mixer.

4 cups flour (I use 1/2 ww pastry and 1/2 white)
2 t. salt
2 T. olive oil
1/2 c. milk
1 egg (you may leave this out if you wish)
garlic put through the garlic press
chopped rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley- whatever herbs you want or no herbs at all

When yeast has risen, add to mixer and mix till smooth. Add more water if necessary.

Let rise for a while, maybe an hour.

Spray pizza pan with cooking spray, and spread mixture on pan. Let rise a little more.

Topping:

I use my homemade sauce. Everyone makes different tomato sauce. Mine is based on either my stewed and strained tomatoes, or two 28 oz. cans of organic (crushed is my favorite) tomatoes. Then I add 2 or 3 jars of tomato paste, salt, basil, and then sautéed onions and garlic in 1/4 c. olive oil.

Pour sauce on crust.

I sauté some vegetables in olive oil, usually onions, garlic, zucchini, peppers. I put them on my side of the pizza on top of the sauce. I don't like cheese, so we have a his and hers side. :<)

I used to put on the cheese and then the vegetables on top, but my husband heard from another teacher at school that in Canada they put on the veggies and top with cheese, so that's the way he's trying it tonight.

Bake at 400º until crust is done, about 30 minutes.

3 comments:

  1. Do you mean that in the US the order of pizza ingredients is usually crust, sauce, cheese then toppings?! I've never heard of that! I can confirm that any pizza I've ever had here in Canada has cheese on the top. Did you find it made any difference in Tom's pizza-eating experience?! :-)

    MJ in NS

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  2. I've never seen pizza with the toppings on top of the cheese. Wonder where this is done.

    Les in NE (Hi, MJ!)

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  3. Thanks for stopping by MJ! Tom thought the pizza tasted good both ways, but this "new" way was a bit cheesier.

    We are both totally bewildered by Les' revelation. You've lived in three parts of the country and have never seen the "veggies on top" version! Now we are wondering if this is a regional thing. And when you think about it, doesn't "toppings" mean on the very top?? :<)

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