Pizza Margherita!

Are you drooling? I am. Tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil is one of my favorite flavor combinations. I try to sneak it into everything! The first time I tried this classic combo I was 23. My grandma had bought me this Rachael Ray cookbook (my favorite RR cookbook to this day.) and I was working my way through it. The first recipe is Inside-out Pizza-dilla Margerita, which is just a quesadilla filled with a simple tomato sauce and topped with fresh mozzarella and basil. That is still my go-to treat when I feel like I need a reward for something or if I've had a bad day. Yum!

This pizza is an easy way to finish off an evening but quick enough for an after school snack.

Pizza Margherita

1 recipe Quick Pizza Dough
1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes
1/2 pound of fresh mozzarella (it comes in a tub packed in water)
3-4 sprigs of basil

Preheat the oven to 425.
Sprinkle a baking stone or baking sheet with cornmeal.
Roll out the dough and place on baking stone/sheet.
Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange on top of dough.
Cut the mozzarella into pieces and top pizza.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Tear basil into pieces and sprinkle over pizza.
Enjoy!

Pizza di Venerdì

Pizza Jay's Way

Mmmmmmmm, pizza. We aim for pizza every Friday in this house. This is the most requested version by the masses. Pizza with lots of red sauce, smothered in cheese and topped with pepperoni. Jay doesn't believe in pizza that doesn't have lots of sauce and cheese, a matter of principles, I guess. Lately, I've been craving a lighter, (not lower calorie, silly you!) less saucy pizza, so I've been making individual pizzas. I didn't get a picture, but mine was just brushed with garlic butter and had a bit of feta sprinkled on it. Yummmmmmm!

This is the basic pizza dough recipe I use. I've tried many versions of pizza dough, some that require you to make them days in advance. Honestly, I haven't found one that is that much superior to my old stand-by, especially when you factor in the time and ease of this version! You can make this in your food processor (the owner's manual is where I found this recipe, weird, huh!) or your mixer. I use my mixer since my food processor bowl is on it's last legs and has an aversion to liquids. This dough is extremely forgiving. You can knead it if you like, or leave it to rise if you want. It does improve the taste and texture a bit, but you can also use it as soon as it comes together and it will work just fine.

Quick Pizza Dough

2/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil

Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water together and let rest 10 minutes.
Add the flour, salt, and oil.
Mix until well incorporated.
Roll or toss into a pizza shape and lay on a pizza stone or sheet pan sprinkled with cornmeal.
Bake at 425 for 10ish minutes.
Yields one large pizza.

Note: you can add pretty much anything you want to the dough, but if you add cheese (which is very tasty) make sure to use A LOT of cornmeal on your pan. The cheese will melt on the bottom of the pizza and has a nasty tendency to stick if you aren't careful!