Pizza Night

I love pizza. I think I could eat pizza every night if I had to. Pizza is so great because you can add whatever you want to top it off. In Brazil, they have dessert pizza. Oooooh. Someday, I will make one of these special pizzas for my family (Prestigio--melted chocolate with coconut flakes, or maybe chocolate, strawberries, with sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top, with a scoop of ice cream).

One of my New Year's Resolutions has been to create more traditions. I remember a book I had to read in college talked about family folklore and traditions and how much of what we deem as traditions are centered around food. I personally have no problem with that. I love food.

A few months ago, I decided on a tradition to begin: Pizza Night. Friday night. Home made pizza night. It is easy, delicious, and doesn't come in a greasy box.



The Crust
adapted from this recipe by Cindy Clawson

This makes two crusts, and I did them in two different bowls.

5 c. flour
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 T. yeast
2 c. warm water
2 T. oil

Preheat the oven to 450 with a pizza stone inside the oven.

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a large bowl or stand mixer. Combine the water with the oil, then add to the dry ingredients until combined. (At this point, I just rushed through and did my own thing). Add a little more flour to the bowl, just a sprinkle, and knead it into the dough ball for about 3 minutes. Split the dough in half. Place each half in a buttered bowl, turning once so the butter is on all of it. Cover each bowl with a clean towel or cloth napkin to rise at least 20 minutes.

With one bowl, punch down the dough, then remove it from the bowl. Remove the pizza stone from the oven, spray with nonstick spray, or sprinkle cornmeal (I need to start doing that). Place the dough in the middle, and roll it out so it almost covers the stone (about 1 inch from the edge).

Fork the crust all over, then add some sauce (don't drown your pizza. Treat the sauce like a glaze, you don't need much), fresh mozzarella cheese (the kind that comes in a ball in water...slice it up, grating doesn't work), and one or two other toppings, and top it all off with some chopped-up fresh basil. We also like to add caramelized onions.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 450. (then repeat with second dough ball while everyone is eating the first). FYI--the second dough with be much thicker because it had more time to rise. If you don't want it to do this, then half the recipe and do one dough at a time.




Sarah's Simple Sauce

6 roma tomatoes
1/2 c. Chicken broth
1 T. Oregano
2 cloves Garlic, minced
dash of salt

Heat all ingredients in a small sauce pan until boiling. Boil for 2 minutes, then smash the tomatoes a little with a fork. Cook on low for about 20 minutes. With a stick blender, completely puree the sauce. Allow sauce to cool and thicken before using. Spread on pizza crust.

Caramelized Onions

swirl of extra virgin olive oil (swirl it in the pan once or twice)
2 Red Onions, chopped into skinny slices
2 T. molasses
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
dash of salt

Chop the onions into thin slices, and place in a pan with the olive oil on medium heat. Drizzle molasses over top, then forget about it for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar on top, and mix together. Forget about it for another 5-10 minutes. Stir and turn down heat to med-low or low. Add a dash or two of salt, and let it sit for another 10 minutes or until you are ready to use it. Add as much as you want to the pizza.