"Perfecto" Classic Pizza for a very, very belated National Pizza Pie Day





Before deciding which recipe to write about next, I like to consult my trusty Food Holiday Calendar, the website that tells me when to celebrate ingenius “holidays” like “National Peanut Butter Day” or “National Apple Pie Day.” If an upcoming update falls around a holiday that I have a recipe for, I try to coordinate the two. Imagine my excitement when I quickly scanned over the website and read that today was National Pizza Pie Day, and lo and behold, I do in fact have a delicious pizza recipe that I’ve been waiting to share! It was fate, clearly.

It was fat, at least, until I realized that today is not, in fact, National Pizza Pie Day. February 10th is National Pizza Pie Day – today is actually Blueberry Popover Day and that, my friends, is a holiday for which I have no recipe. If you don’t mind, let’s just pretend that today is National Pizza Pie Day all over again, since I missed it the first time around and since, let’s face it, who wouldn’t want a second chance to celebrate a holiday like this one?

So today, I have to tell you about the best pizza I have ever made. I made it for two reasons: (1) I desperately need to empty out my freezer (as I mentioned in my last post how precariously it’s currently stuffed) and I happened to have two personal-sized pizza dough rounds in there, and (2) L was coming to visit and I often go into panic mode over what to feed him. He isn’t a picky eater, and bless him for all of the crazy things he’ll try because I made them, but he is challenged by the food I tend to keep in stock. Pizza is my go-to solution for him, which up until recently I felt somewhat guilty about because although he likes a good cheesy, tomato pie, he doesn’t go nuts over it. Yet here I am, shoveling slices down his pie hole like there’s no tomorrow. Fortunately, I mentioned this predicament to him and all he had to say, a slice of this very pizza in hand, was “but the pizzas you make are so good!”

So there you have it. The boy’s not a die-hard pizza fan, but this recipe won him over perhaps even more quickly than I did nearly six years ago. The sauce was incredible, the cheese was bursting with flavor (though you can certainly use less – this, too, was a freezer occupant that I was trying to use up), and the dough was thin and crisp. I don’t know about you, but I sit on the fence when it comes to pizza doughs – I know some people are adamant that the dough should be thick and fluffy, while others swear by the thin and crispy, but I’m a girl who likes it both ways. And for all of you other fence sitters or thin and crispy lovers, this dough is for you. The only downside is that the recipe is fairly salty; I didn’t taste the salt with every bite, but found myself practically chugging water for the rest of the night. It’s just something to consider, but overall, the recipe turned out perfecto.

 

Pizza Margherita, adapted from Yahoo! Shine
Yield: 4 servings

The Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
5-6 fresh basil leaves
15 ounces (no salt added) crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ tablespoon dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups grated parmesan cheese2
balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

The Method
Prepare the dough according to the recipe. After last rising, when ready to bake, divide the dough into quarters and spread each quarter into a very thin (as thin as it will go without breaking) personal pizza rounds.

Preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit and brush all four dough rounds liberally with olive oil (using more than the 1 tablespoon if necessary).

Mince 3-4 basil leaves and combine in a bowl with the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, and garlic cloves. Divide evenly amongst the four pizza rounds, approximately ¼ cup per round. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Add the cheese to the pizzas and return to the oven to finish cooking, until the crust has become a deep, golden brown and the cheese has melted completely. Chiffonade the remaining basil leaves, sprinkle over the finished pizzas, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar before serving.

Notes:
1I use white whole wheat flour and less salt when I make this dough.
2I did not measure this. For 2 people I used a good 1/3-1/2 wedge of parmesan and estimate that it was about ½ - ¾ cup per pizza, but I really just grated a whole lot and then covered the pizza with it. You could probably err on the lower end of ½ cup (or have more of a tomato pie and just sprinkle with ¼ cup or less cheese) and still have a tasty meal.






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