Pizza porn

pesto with sausage & ricotta

I am hopelessly passionate about making pizza. The smells of yeast rising, tomato sauce simmering, fresh basil, caramelized peppers, garlic, sweet Italian sauage, browning mozzarella.... And the first bite - pure heaven. Add fresh ricotta, and I am swooning.

Needless to say, I've been known to make a few pies every now and then. Enough so that my homemade pizza has created a small, mostly local fanbase. Check it out: Nan's Homemade Pizza

My husband and I have always enjoyed making pizza at home. The process sort of evolved over time. It began with store-bought pizza dough, of which we tried countless varieties. We found Whole Foods' version to be our favorite, but at $2.99 per dough - and with an insatiable need to make things from scratch - I had to wonder how difficult it would be to make my own.

My dough recipe was years in the making. Eventually, I found the easiest way to make it was actually in the food processor. This method produced exactly the type of pizza I was craving - a crust that is thin and crunchy, but still chewy.

Bread flour, yeast, salt, extra virgin olive oil and water are combined in the food processor, then turned out onto a floured surface, briefly kneaded, and put into a bowl to rise and rest.

The sauce is also made from scratch using all organic ingredients. I simmer a simple red sauce for hours, then freeze it in "pie-sized" portions.

To begin, the dough is stretched onto an oil- and cornmeal-coated pan.

First I add the sauce:

Then toppings:

The pizzas are baked almost all the way through before adding the cheese.

spinach, mushroom, caramelized onion & garlic

We have spent countless hours in our kitchen enjoying many varieties of pie with friends and family. Below, a montage of some of our favorites.



adding ricotta to a sausage & pesto pie




pepperoni

 

yellow pepper & basil



roasted mushroom & ricotta



sausage & fresh basil



The first bite is always the best.