Pizza!

Hello!

Look at this:

Homemade pizza!
I make pizza pretty frequently, since it can be prepared well in advance, is easily adaptable to whatever food mood/ craving I happen to have, and makes good leftovers. Plus I always feel it doesn’t really take that long to make, except of course the dough should be given a couple of hours to rise. I know that some people feel uneasy about yeast doughs, but I have to admit I don’t get it. Or maybe I have just always been lucky – I cannot remember a single attempt that went wrong, wouldn’t rise or whatever. In any case, it’s just a dough. Anyways, here’s what I did:

Ingredients:
makes one large pizza, about the size of a baking tray; serves 4 or more

For the dough:
3 cups flour (I usually mix all-purpose and whole wheat)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsps. dry yeast
2 tbsps. olive oil
warm water, approx. 1/2 cup

For the sauce:
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
5 tbsps. tomato paste
a handful of sundried tomatoes, chopped
salt, pepper, dried rosemary to taste
olive oil
red wine
water

For the topping:
1 bell pepper
1 can of artichoke hearts (net weight? maybe 1/2 pound)
grated cheese ad libitum
some fresh basil leaves

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and yeast. Stir well. Add olive oil; start kneading. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, kneading in between. Knead until you have a nice, smooth dough. Leave it in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and let sit and rise for a couple of hours. Of course, this depends on how you like your dough, and how much time/ patience you have: if you like your pizza crust thin, there’s no need for an overlong rising period. I usually let my dough sit for about 2 hours.

For the sauce, cover the sundried tomatoes with warm water and let sit for maybe 15 mins. In the meantime, heat some olive oil in a large pan. Add the chopped onion and garlic; stir. Drain the tomatoes and add to the pan. Add the tomato paste, stir well. Then carefully add some wine, water, or both. The idea is to turn that very concentrated tomato paste into a tomato sauce again. Add as much as liquid as you like, depending on how thick or thin you want the sauce to be. Let bubble for a couple of minutes, season strongly, and remove from heat.

On a lined baking tray, roll out the dough. Pinch with a fork several times in separate spots (jeez! how to describe this? the idea is to make sure the dough bakes evenly when in the oven, so one makes pinches across the dough rectangle). Let sit while you prepare the topping.

Wash the bell pepper and slice it into thin sections or small cubes. Drain and quarter the artichoke hearts.

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

Pour the sauce on the pizza crust and spread evenly. Add pepper slices and artichoke chunks. Cover with grated cheese and basil leaves. Bake for about 22 mins., until the cheese has melted and the crust looks done. Enjoy!

Is pizza unhealthy? I don’t know. I mean it’s basically bread, veggies, and cheese. Granted, a lot of cheese. I don’t know, I really don’t, but I tend to think that with whole wheat dough and not too much cheese, this is no too bad dinner choice. Hm???

Tomorrow: spicy rice w/ veggies. Until then: goodnight, eat well, and xoxo. F.