Pizza!!!

It’s been months since I’ve blogged. Well, this is embarrassing. I said last time that I was a bad blogger, and I guess I just had to prove it! Anyway, I’ve tried several new recipes and some oldies but goodies that I’ve yet to share. Lately, I’ve been cooking almost everything from scratch…because I have to prove myself to the blog gods, ya know?

First up…Homemade Pizza. And No, I don’t mean buying a Boboli crust and Ragu pizza sauce. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! A few weeks ago I had a hankerin’ for some pizza, but hubby wasn’t home and Lord knows I can polish off a Papa John’s pizza by myself, so I decided to do the right thing and make my own pizza. It couldn’t be that hard, right?! Since I’ve been making homemade pizza, we have yet to order one! I found the sauce and crust recipes on Allrecipes.com. You can find the sauce recipe here and what’s awesome is that it does not require any cooking, plus it’s a can tomato paste, water, and seasonings. It’s great! The crust (here) does take an hour to rise, but you can make the sauce while you’re waiting on the crust.

The tricks to making a delicious homemade pizza:

1. Unless you’re using a pizza stone, cook your crust for about 5-7 minutes before adding the sauce and toppings, otherwise you’ll end up with a sad soggy pizza. A melancholy pizza, if you will.
2. Use FRESH mozzarella!!! Please, please, please do not solely use pre-grated cheese. This makes all the difference!
3. Broil the pizza for the last 1-2 minutes for bubbly cheese and crisp toppings, but whatever you do, do NOT leave your pizza alone or it will burn. Your broiling pizza depends on your company. Your companionship. Your attention. Don’t leave it.

(By the way, those are pepperonis that I tossed in the food processor. Don’t you hate taking a big bite of pizza only to tear off an entire slice of pepperoni and all the cheese that comes with it?! Actually, now that I’ve typed that, it doesn’t sound so bad…)