#101

Yahoo!! Last post was my 100th post, which makes this post number 101!! (I didn’t realize this until I went to create this post.) Thanks to all my readers! I appreciate all of you!

Tonight’s meal was an amazing creation with delectable toppings prepared by my husband, and a homemade crust and some homemade pizza sauce I prepared over the weekend. Wow! Wow! Wow! So delicious!

Homemade Pizza Sauce

(Recipe from The Pajama Chef.)

Ingredients

28 ounces tomato puree
1 1/2-3/4 cups water
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients except salt in a bowl and whisk together. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, taste, and add more salt if needed. Store in the refrigerator until use or up to 1 week. Can also be frozen.

I strayed from my go-to pizza dough because I didn’t have instant yeast, but this one ranked right up there!

Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients

3-3/4 cups (500 grams) bread flour

2-1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) instant or active dry yeast

3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) salt

3/4 teaspoon plus pinch (3 grams) sugar

1-1/3 cups (300 grams) water

Extra virgin olive oil for pan

Directions

In a bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water, and using a spoon, your hand, or a baker’s plastic bench scraper, mix together until blended–about a minute. You don’t want to mix or knead this dough too much, or else the gluten will develop and you won’t be able to shape it in the pan. But you want to mix in all the lumps of flour. In the end, you’ll arrive at a stiff dough.

Cover the dough and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours. (If your room is cold, put it in the oven with a pilot light to warm up a bit or in a closed cabinet.)

Dump out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut it in half. Use both pieces, or save on in the refrigerator (I used a zip-lock bag.) for up to one day. Oil a 13 x 18 inch rimmed baking sheet liberally with good extra virgin olive oil. (Yes, pour it on.) Then gently plop the dough on the pan and stretch and press it out to the edges. If it springs back (that’s the gluten working) wait five minutes and then proceed. I found the gluten weak enough to spread it fully over the pan. The dough is very thin. If it tears, piece it back together.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with a rack in the middle.

Add toppings.

Bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Craig sauteed onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and pork sausage on the stove-top before adding them to the pizza.

We were both raving about this pizza all night long!

Some steamed broccoli on the side. I really like steamed broccoli!

I’m off to bed to get some much-needed rest!