pizza pizza

I know, I know, I've been away. And no one reads a blog that doesn't have new content. I'm sorry.

Part of the reason I haven't posted is that I really haven't been making much of anything original. I mostly have been tweaking other people's recipes. What I'm giving you here is one of these tweakings. Is tweakings even a word? No matter.

I am an avid reader of the thepioneerwoman.com. This is partly because her recipes are simple, delicious and full of step-by-step photos, and partly because I find her quirky and often hilarious. Point being, I used her pizza dough recipe (tweaked!) when making my pizza.

Anyway, here's a link to a pizza recipe on her site. It includes a whole pizza, soup to nuts. But you can make the dough and put whatever you want on top. I made the dough a little differently though - first, I substituted half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I figured I'd try to make the pizza as healthy as possible (right before I smothered it in cheese). Also, I probably ended up baking the pizzas for closer to 15 to 18 minutes. This is possibly because of the wheat flour change - I don't know, I'm not a scientist.

Finally, we get to the recipe (and really, can you even call it a recipe??).

Ingredients

Pizza dough by the Pioneer Woman

Sauce
2 tsp. olive oil
1 can of whole roma tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of honey
a chiffonade of 4 or 5 basil leaves

Toppings
1 can of artichoke hearts (not the marinated kind, although I'm sure that would be delicious), drained and sliced
20 or so greek olives, pitted and diced
1 or 2 cooked chicken breasts, sliced into thin bite-sized pieces
About 3 cups (I know, I know) of good cheese - I used half mozzarella and half Peccorino Romano, shredded

Follow the PWs instructions for the pizza crust. And while it's rising, you can make the sauce and get your toppings together.

I find that I like pizza sauce that's really thick and super-concentrated. I want it to taste like I bit into a cooked tomato. Also, I don't like tomato seeds in my pizza sauce. So to get them out, simply take each whole tomato out of the can and squeeze it like a stress ball over a large bowl. I suggest poking a whole in it first and wearing an apron - they squirt when you squeeze.

Put each squeezed tomato into a pot in which you've already got the gently heated olive oil (medium heat should do). Then, pour the juice from the can and from the squeezed tomatoes through a sieve into your pot. Finally, use a potato masher to pulverize the tomatoes.

Add about 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste. You may need to add more, depending on how thick you like your sauce. Now just let it concentrate itself, but give it a few stirs here and there. It'll cook down quite a bit. When it's nice and thick, add the honey and the basil. You can season it with salt and pepper, if you want. But I didn't because there's quite a bit of salt in the rest of the ingredients. Now, the honey is important. With all that tomato in there, you've got a lot of acid. The honey really has a job to do here, beyond creating a sweet(ish) sauce. It cuts that acid quite a bit.

The rest is easy - get your pizza dough pressed into a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Get your oven super-hot. Spread about a half-cup to three-quarters of a cup of the sauce on the dough. Sprinkle the cheese on liberally. Sprinkle the rest of your toppings on, liberally. Bake. Enjoy.

PW's recipe makes enough dough for two pizzas. Make yourself an old standby - pepperoni or plain cheese is always a crowd-pleaser.

It's good to be back.

One more thing, please do vote for my brother's essay on Anthony Bourdain's website (see Tuesday's post). Thanks so much!