“Pissa!”

June 14th, 2010

(That is 20-month old slang for “pizza”.)

Way back this morning, Ella and I sat and read her piggy book; a story about a bunch of unruly pigs that invade a man’s house and proceed to have a party and make a mess.  The piggy piggies order pizza and when it is delivered, the stack is 30 pizzas high.  I mentioned to my little reader that pizza sounded good, and next thing I know she is off the couch (or sofa, as she calls it), and pointing to the kitchen saying “Bite!”  I explained to her that we don’t have any pizza right now but we can wait for Daddy to get home and we can make it for dinner.  That seemed to be okay with her.

(Funnily enough, she is reading this story with Daddy as I write and the pizza crisps in the oven.)

This is the recipe I use for our homemade pizza.  When Ant and I are feeling more adult and simplistic, we top our dough with fresh mozzarella, roasted heirloom tomatoes and basil.  It is so so so good but it’s not a very kid-friendly pizza, and Ella basically ends up eating pizza crust for dinner.

So this is the one we use and try to top it with loads of veggies.

the Sauce:

6 oz. can tomato paste

6 oz. warm water

(or)

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 garlic clove

3 T. freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 T. honey

3/4 t. onion powder

1/4 t. dried oregano

1/4 t. dried marjoram

1/4 t. dried basil

1/4 t. ground black pepper

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

1/8 t. red pepper flakes

salt to taste (I omit this as we like olives on our pizza and those are salty enough)

Mix everything in a bowl and let sit for about half an hour to marry the flavors.  (I usually make the sauce then go about making the dough and preparing the toppings.  By the time I’m ready for the sauce, it’s ready for me.)

(bell peppers hidden in the sauce)

the Dough:

3 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 T. sugar

1 packet yeast

1 c. warm water

2 T. vegetable oil

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Make a well.  Add the oil to the water and pour both into the well.  Mix into a dough.

I like to spread our pizza pan with olive oil before I stretch the dough over it.  I also grease up my hands with olive oil before I do the last bit of kneading with my hands.

Spread the dough around the pan, creating a crust if you like.  I’ve topped this dough straight away and put it in the oven without time to rise and it’s turned out well.  Lately though I’ve been letting it rise for a while (at least while I chop vegetables and grate the cheese), and it comes out quite nice.

Top with sauce and toppings, bake at 375 degrees for 20 – 25 mintutes.

Ant’s tip:  Begin baking your pizza on the very bottom rack to achieve a crispier crust…about 20 minutes.  Then move the pie to the top rack to brown the crust and bubble the cheese!

I would like to eventually try this dough with whole wheat flour, but every time I make it, I don’t have any on hand.  I hope to eventually plan accordingly.

Tonight we topped our pizza with freshly grated mozzarella (about 2 cups), sliced mushrooms, black olives, and sliced onions and tomatoes fresh from our farm.

We also had a green veggie, but this time I hid it in the sauce.  I diced up half a green bell pepper and mixed it into the sauce before spreading it onto the dough.

Ella has discovered that kid-style of picking the unwanted ingredients off and eating only what looks good to her.

Thus I have discovered the thrifty Mommy-style of sneaking ingredients into desirable foods.  (Also effective for sneaking the healthies into Mommies and Daddies sometimes.)

Mama mia, dinner by request!

Add a little GaGa and Michael Jackson to dance to at the table and you’ve got a Monday night pizza party.

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