Who doesn't like Pizza? It is the quintessential American food.... that originated in Naples Italy and is available in varying degrees of quality in every city, town and country hamlet in America. It comes in Kosher, Halal, vegetarian and vegan, fresh, frozen, dehydrated and kits. You can get it delivered by a pimply faced teenager from a chain store, a Chinese immigrant on a bicycle who works for a Croatian who lived in Italy before emigrating to the US. Or, you could make it yourself from scratch.
Since this is a blog about cooking and eating we're gonna talk about the homemade kind. Let's start with a little dose of honesty. Making Pizza at home is EASY! I confess that for a long time I allowed my culinarily challenged wife to believe that it was a big deal and deserving of her deep admiration for my Herculean effort. Eventually, guilt got the best of me and I confessed and shortly all of you will also know that making pizza at home from scratch is remarkably simple.
How simple is it, you ask? So simple that after you read this you will be able to make a perfectly delicious pizza yourself, at home and reap whatever ill-gotten benefit you receive from loved ones and friends who believe the process to be mind-bogglingly difficult.
However before we get to the cooking part you have to endure one of my food stories. Of course since this is all in writing if you want cheat and skip ahead to the recipes I'll never know and you can pretend you enjoyed this part so I don't feel bad.
Contrary to what I claim publicly my wife does take me out to eat on occasion. The problem we have with dining out is that, well as arrogant as it sounds, I'm just too good a cook to pay to eat anything that is less then exceptional. So when we eat out we stick to places that serve great food. Notice I did not say "good" restaurants because good usually means pricey and price does not always equate to quality.
One of the places we enjoy eating is in Downtown Easton, PA. For those living elsewhere, there are a couple of things you should know. Pennsylvania has cities\urban centers other then Philly, Pittsburgh and thanks to The Office, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, Scranton. Easton is a small city just across the river from New Jersey and home to Crayola that has in the last few years developed a number of really quality restaurants.
One of these restaurants is an Italian Place named Sette Luna on Ferry St. which makes among other things some wonderful pizza's. One such Pizza is a Greek Pizza which I have gleefully ripped off, rather chosen to honor by recreating my own humble version of at home. Small restaurants in smallish cities are not my only source of thievery, sorry inspiration, I borrow pizza ideas from the big guys too. I do a version of a pie we tried at Eataly which is Mario Batali and Joe Bastianch's store\restaurant(s) experience.
For me eating out at home is one of the perks of living in a restaurant. I don't actually live in a restaurant but I eat like I do. My point is eating out is seldom about satisfying my physical hunger so much as satiating my desire for something different. A chance to be inspired. I don't eat out to have a night off from cooking but to find a new way to make something old or an old way to make something new.
Pizza is the perfect meal because it is so versatile. The same basic process can deliver a comfortably familiar plain cheese pizza or a decadent gourmet dinner suitable for impressing someone special yourself included. I still love a plain slice from most pizzerias in New York but at home I like to go to Chicago for a ripped off version of Lou Malnati's deep dish sausage pizza.
The bottom line is when you eat out get your money's worth and rip the joint off for a recipe or two.
Basic Pizza Dough
Cheese Pizza
Greek Pizza
5 Cheese White Pizza
Pizza With Prosciutto
Deep Dish Sausage Pizza - Coming Very Soon!
Prosciutto Pizza
I confess I am not at all ashamed of my thieving ways. While pretending to visit our son at NYU Lorraine and I ate at Mario Batali's Eataly and while Lorraine had what is the BEST, slightly better then mine, Braised Short Rib Ragu I have ever had, I thoroughly enjoyed a Bufalo Prosciutto Pizza so much so that I ripped it off along with the Ragu.
Sorry Mario!
Ingredients
1 Ball of Pizza Dough
1 Lb Fresh Mozzarella
8 Oz Fresh Tomato Sauce (a can if you must)
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Lb Prosciutto di Parma
1 Tbs Dried Oregano
1 Tbs Dried Basil
1 Tbs Dried Thyme
1Tbs Granulated Garlic or Garlic Powder
1 Tbs Onion Powder
1 Tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Preparation
A couple of notes before we begin. For those of you who don't know me, I'm cheap. So when I specify a particular ingredient such as Prosciutto di Parma over a less expensive domestic prosciutto it is not because I have money to burn but because the taste is worth it, if you can afford the few extra dollars.
I also specify Fresh Tomato Sauce if possible because again this just adds a dimension to the pizza that is worth the trouble but is not necessary. By Fresh Tomato Sauce I mean from whole tomatoes. You can use canned whole tomatoes like San Marzano or domestic or you can throw 6-8 ripe romas in a pot of boiling water and when the skin puckers run them under cold water and peel them.
In either case, canned or fresh puree just the tomatoes in a blender or food processor. Be sure not to include the extra water that is in the can of whole peeled tomatoes. That's it. That's all you want to do. You don't want to put them in a pot on the stove with herbs and cheese and cook them you just want them pureed.
Let's build a Pizza.
Stretch your dough, round, rectangular, or other, to 1/4" or thinner and spread olive oil evenly on top. Spread a thin coat of tomato sauce covering the dough to about 3/4 of an inch from the edge. Evenly add the herbs, Oregano, Basil, Thyme and seasonings, Garlic and Onion Powder, and Pepper.
Salt is left out intentionally because Prosciutto is a salt cured ham and therefore there is no need to add more.
Cheese is next. Before the Mozzarella sprinkle your Parmesan over the sauce and herbs. Fresh Mozzarella is the way to go here, sliced is best. For those not sure what the difference is between plastic wrapped Mozzarella and Fresh, Fresh is the soft one that you can now find in most better supermarkets and in Italian specialty stores. 100% Coverage is not what you are looking for in this case 80-90% coverage is more then adequate for this pizza.
Finally cover as much of your pizza as possible with the Prosciutto in one layer.
Cook it at 450 degrees on either a pizza stone or top rack until the crust is lightly brown and the bottom is dark golden to light brown. Total cooking time will vary since you can't trust the temperature of ANY oven between 7 and about 12 minutes.
Every time you take a bite and think how good it is remember you are an accessory to Pizza Recipe Theft.
Sorry Mario!
Ingredients
1 Ball of Pizza Dough
1 Lb Fresh Mozzarella
8 Oz Fresh Tomato Sauce (a can if you must)
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Lb Prosciutto di Parma
1 Tbs Dried Oregano
1 Tbs Dried Basil
1 Tbs Dried Thyme
1Tbs Granulated Garlic or Garlic Powder
1 Tbs Onion Powder
1 Tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Preparation
A couple of notes before we begin. For those of you who don't know me, I'm cheap. So when I specify a particular ingredient such as Prosciutto di Parma over a less expensive domestic prosciutto it is not because I have money to burn but because the taste is worth it, if you can afford the few extra dollars.
I also specify Fresh Tomato Sauce if possible because again this just adds a dimension to the pizza that is worth the trouble but is not necessary. By Fresh Tomato Sauce I mean from whole tomatoes. You can use canned whole tomatoes like San Marzano or domestic or you can throw 6-8 ripe romas in a pot of boiling water and when the skin puckers run them under cold water and peel them.
In either case, canned or fresh puree just the tomatoes in a blender or food processor. Be sure not to include the extra water that is in the can of whole peeled tomatoes. That's it. That's all you want to do. You don't want to put them in a pot on the stove with herbs and cheese and cook them you just want them pureed.
Let's build a Pizza.
Stretch your dough, round, rectangular, or other, to 1/4" or thinner and spread olive oil evenly on top. Spread a thin coat of tomato sauce covering the dough to about 3/4 of an inch from the edge. Evenly add the herbs, Oregano, Basil, Thyme and seasonings, Garlic and Onion Powder, and Pepper.
Salt is left out intentionally because Prosciutto is a salt cured ham and therefore there is no need to add more.
Cheese is next. Before the Mozzarella sprinkle your Parmesan over the sauce and herbs. Fresh Mozzarella is the way to go here, sliced is best. For those not sure what the difference is between plastic wrapped Mozzarella and Fresh, Fresh is the soft one that you can now find in most better supermarkets and in Italian specialty stores. 100% Coverage is not what you are looking for in this case 80-90% coverage is more then adequate for this pizza.
Finally cover as much of your pizza as possible with the Prosciutto in one layer.
Cook it at 450 degrees on either a pizza stone or top rack until the crust is lightly brown and the bottom is dark golden to light brown. Total cooking time will vary since you can't trust the temperature of ANY oven between 7 and about 12 minutes.
Every time you take a bite and think how good it is remember you are an accessory to Pizza Recipe Theft.
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