01 October 2013

Pizza Postscript–a Word of Explanation

In yesterday’s post I commented that despite having a pretty good experience at Pig Ate My Pizza, my wife and I likely wouldn’t trek to Robbinsdale just for pizza. The main reason is because we like the pizzas we make at home better than any restaurant pizza.HomemadePizza

So for example, this photo is of a pizza that we made a few weeks ago.

You can find pizza crust recipes basically anywhere. The recipe we use is from the New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook. I guess its out of print now. Our copy is copyright 1971. We probably got it as a wedding present in 1974. The pizza crust recipe is very basic, just flour, water, yeast, and olive oil. We like it because it produces a crisp crust that doesn’t interfere with the toppings we put on.

We topped this particular pizza with fresh Roma tomatoes from the Minneapolis farmers market, fresh basil from our garden, and supermarket mozzarella cheese (from Cub).

We most often make pizza on Sunday nights. After a busy weekend, we usually just want to relax with a simple pizza, salad, and a martini. I mix up the dough for the crust and grate the cheese while my wife prepares the toppings. (We like to have all the knife work done before pouring the martinis.)

Then while the pizza dough is rising, we relax with a martini, usually featuring olives stuffed with gorgonzola or blue cheese. When the pizza dough is ready, we pre-bake it for a few minutes, then put on the toppings and finish it off. When the cheese is nice and melted, dinner is served.

Really, this is so simple, good, and relaxing that we have no motivation to go to a restaurant for pizza. Even if that restaurant takes reservations.

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