Pizza Time :-)

Yummy in our tummies. Here is the link for the pizza I made tonight. I've tried a few recipes and I just haven't been satisfied yet. But this was DELICIOUS!!! And so very, very eassssy. I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and the rest white flour. I love whole wheat anything, but it may take some getting used to if you haven't cooked with whole wheat much. White flour will do you just fine...just won't be very good for you...I followed the directions by sprinkling the pizza with oregano, basil, S&P. I think it made a big difference.

Now for the sauce. This has been the main part I haven't found the perfect recipe for. But I loved the sauce I made tonight. Prepare yourself...it's really, really simple. I sort of looked at her (Tammy) recipe, which doesn't sound all that simple (plus it required a lot of tomatoes--5lbs! For canning, which I'm not ready to try). I just picked the herbs and spices out of her recipe and then used the canned tomatoes I had a on hand. I used a big can of crushed tomatoes and one small can of tomato paste. I plopped everything in the pan and let it simmer for a little bit. This is the part I followed from Tammy's recipe: Add some sugar (1.5 T), salt (1/2 t), oregano (1/2 t), black pepper, and basil (1/4 t). Those measurements are all approximate... just taste and alter as you wish. I think this would be a good way to use up the tomatoes that are wasting away on the counter, if you can't think of how to use them. I just didn't have any on hand and the canned tomatoes worked just fine for me.

I love garlic. So, I cook with a lot of fresh garlic. I love the way it tastes, plus I know it's really good for you. When a recipe calls for 2 cloves of garlic, I'll definitely add 4...or 5... In the past, every red sauce I've made, I just assumed garlic to be a staple. But recently my husband has been experiencing some heartburn and I was thinking it could be from the garlic. I restrained myself from adding it to this sauce, in hopes that it would solve the problem, yet still taste good. The result? Tasted wonderful. Unfortunately it still gave hubby heart burn...still searching for that solution...

The other part that I followed was one of the comments (Pizza Tips Baking Thicker Crusts) about Tammy's pizza. It recommended putting your pizza stone in the oven at 450 degrees before putting the pizza on it. I tried that and it worked fine. I obviously haven't tried it without, so I can't say if it made a huge difference. Although, in the past I have always pre-baked the crust before adding the toppings, but it saved me from that step. So I guess it worked well! I pulled out the pizza stone and put it on top of the stove to add the crust and topping. As long as you are careful to not touch, it works just fine. Then I put it in for 10 minutes. Thankfully I checked it after 9 and half minutes, because it was done. It maybe could have been taken out at 9 minutes, but it wasn't burnt. Just close. Oh, I just remembered. I did turn off the oven, cracked the door and let it sit there for another 5 minutes or so. I'm not convinced that part is necessary, but it is handy if you aren't ready to serve it immediately. Don't get me wrong, I love cold pizza. But not when It could have been hot and fresh from the oven, but just missed it.

Soooo....I hope that wasn't as confusing as it was writing it. My hubby started singing a song of what I was writing, and that kind of distracted me for a bit. He likes to add music to random words...oh the joys of being married to him. :-) By the way, he thinks the pizza is worth the potential heart burn. That's not such a good way to end this post...Just remember it is yummy and easy.