Monday, January 16, 2006

Pizza!

I think I'm on a roll, as far as cooking goes. Maybe it's because I had a three day weekend. I don't foresee any great efforts in the kitchen the next few nights due to a work dinner out, a haircut another night, and working late the others.
Anyhow, I've been on a quest lately to use more food that I've put by--specifically, those things that I buy (or make), freeze, and forget about it. I have the same problem, to a lesser extent, with my pantry.
So, dinner tonight is pizza made from pizza dough that's been in the freezer longer than the 3 months prescribed by Peter Reinhart.
To top this pizza, I grated a zucchini earlier today and lightly salted it. It spent the rest of the day in a colander and was squeezed dry before being tossed on the pizza. I used a few diced red onions, and some baby bellas that I pre-cooked to remove any moisture--I hate soggy pizza. I used smoked fontina cheese--a true treasure. Try it if you haven't already; you won't regret it. Instead of a red sauce, I fried slivers of garlic in olive oil and let them set for the rest of the day. I used the garlic and a light brushing of the olive oil as a base. Oh, and I prefer my pizza with a shaking of crushed red pepper. Spicy-yum!

This is a favorite dough of mine. I've tried many recipes over the years, but this is the one I will stick with when I want a firm, crispy crust--similar to what I experienced when I visited Italy 5 years ago. It was easier to work with when I first made it, but the ease of having dough in the freezer it worth the slight loss of quality.

OK, so the shape is a little wacky. That's what I get for talking on the phone will preparing it. That's pretty good considering I mostly used just one hand!
Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Dough

2 comments:

Little Mama said...

That pizza looks great. Love the new layout by the way.

Jeff in NC said...

Who cares about the shape, it looks delicious! Hee hee :)