Sunday, January 22, 2012

Pizza Night!

Tonight, we decided to have a make-your-own-pizza night here at the Ross abode. Justice is at a birthday party, so we saved a lump of dough for her, and she can make hers when she gets home, and I am not much of a pizza-eater, so I will probably be hitting the leftovers, instead. However, Shane, Hallie and Kaia had a lot of fun making theirs.

I have been looking for a good pizza crust recipe, and I decided to give this one a shot ~
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1626,136191-245196,00.html

Everybody seems to like it, so I think it's a keeper :) I didn't follow the method outlined in the recipe. Instead, I proofed the yeast (mixing it with warm water and sugar, then I added the water (or milk, if you use it) and oil to that bowl, then I gradually stirred in the flour and salt. So, I just followed a different process for mixing the ingredients. After rising, I divided the dough into four equal parts for the pizza-makers and let them go to town with sauce, cheese and toppings of their choice.

I also made the sauce, putting away some for future use (I'll freeze it in small portions). I didn't follow a recipe, but what I did was mix a large can of crushed tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste with a little water, a good drizzle each of olive oil and red wine vinegar and a little sugar. Then, I seasoned it with garlic powder, oregano (lots of oregano), a little basil and rosemary, salt, black pepper and just a couple of dashes of cayenne. You just have to taste and adjust seasonings until it tastes right to you.

Kaia and Hallie made their pizzas inside cake pans, so they would be more like "pan pizza," and Shane went with the traditional pizza pan. Hallie skipped the tomato sauce in favour of garlic butter.

When your pizzas are assembled, bake at 450 degrees (F) for about 12 minutes.

Here's what they turned out:

Hallie's Greek pizza, with garlic butter, green peppers, black olives, artichokes, fresh garlic, feta, parmesan and oregano:


Kaia's super-professional-looking cheese pizza, complete with a sprinkling each of parmesan and oregano, to make it especially good (this is a departure form the usual sauce and mozzarella only plan for her ~ and she LOVES it):


Shane's pizza, with veggie sausage, green peppers, garlic, and peperoncini:

3 comments:

  1. Wow! Kaia just brought me her crust (she will only eat so far) so I could try some. It is really good! You know what? It's even better if you smear on a little of that garlic butter. Holy cow. Can I just eat the back end of a few slices of pizza with garlic butter for dinner? Would that be a reasonable choice?

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  2. Thanks for this. We're gonna try it tomorrow night. I've decided that ordered pizza, even just twice a month is out of our budget now.

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  3. Alice, we decided the same thing. It's just silly. For pennies to the dollar, we can make better pizza at home. We save money, gas, and, if we divide up the dough and let everyone make his/her own individual pizza, we all get exactly what we want. The kids are always excited about pizza night, and even little ones can flatten dough, smear on sauce and sprinkle cheese (and, in our experience, they are more likely to eat things they create). Hope you guys have a good time and enjoy your pizza. (Sorry I fail at the link thing. I keep hoping someone will help me figure that out)

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