Best Italian Pizza For Pizzalover`s *

This tomato sauce is lightly herbed with oregano and basil, yet the basic tomato taste is allowed to shine through. Some pizza aficionados prefer an even simpler sauce than this, but, you'll like the colors and bouquet this sauce adds to your own, home-made pizza. This recipe makes about 2 quarts.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. - Butter
16 Oz. - Can of Tomato Puree
3 Tbsp. - Olive Oil
1 Tsp. - Salt
3 Cloves - Garlic, Minced
1/4 Tsp. - Black Pepper
3 Large - Yellow Onions, Minced
1 Tsp. - Whole Oregano
2 Qts. - Canned Whole Italian Tomatoes
1 Tsp. - Whole Basil

In a Dutch oven or large skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil and slowly but completely sauté the garlic and onion.

Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and puree. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for two hours. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes with a potato masher.

Continue to mash, stir, and simmer partially covered until the sauce reaches the consistency of a rich soup.

If you find you have too many or too large tomato seeds left in the sauce, you may run the sauce through a sieve, (strainer). Set the sauce aside to cool or refrigerate before applying it to your pizza dough.

Pizza Dough Recipe

There has been a clamor for years to get me to post a pizza recipe. So here it is.

A few tips: Always use bread flour, which has more protein. If you don't have a pizza stone, cook the pizza on a preheated cookie sheet. This will make it brown much better. Have you ingredients at room temperature, at least the ones that won't spoil. And consider precooking the meats. This pizza cooks about ten minutes. Cold toppings may not cook well.

This recipe will make two medium pizzas.

* Sponge:3/4 cup warm water
* 1 tsp sugar
* 1/4 oz active fry yeast
* 1 tsp flour

* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 3 cups bread flour

* Sauce:4 oz tomato sauce
* 2 oz tomato paste
* 1 tsp garlic powder
* 1 tsp oregano
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp sugar

1. Mix together the sponge ingredients (first four ingredients). The water should be warm but not hot. Let that stand for 5 minutes or so. Then add the olive oil and salt.

2. From this point forward the goal is to use as little flour as possible.

3. Start mixing in flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well between each addition. You probably won't get past the 1 1/2 cup point before the mixture gets too think to mix in more flour, but this will vary. Just keep adding flour slowly and mixing until the dough gets to the point where you can get your hands into it and form it into a ball. The dough should still be rather sticky, but not gooey.

4. Turn the dough ball out onto a well floured cutting board or counter and start kneading. The kneading works like this: Press your fingers into the center of the dough ball, grab the front of the dough ball and pull it over the top of the depression you just made, press down hard with the heal of you palm, turn the dough ball 1/4 turn and repeat. The idea is to keep stretching and compressing the dough.

5. Try and do this very quickly. As the dough feels like it might stick, spread a small amount of flour on the surface you're using. If the dough does stick enough to get on the board or your hands you'll need to remove it. Scrape the board with a knife and rub your hands together to remove any stuck dough.

6. You'll need to add flour a lot, and you want to use as little flour as possible, so try to dust the surface lightly. Keep kneading for about 10-15 minutes. It will get harder to work with after about 5 minutes, but keep at it. Longer kneading will incorporate too much flour, and less won't develop the glutton enough.

7. Cut the dough ball in half and form each half into a smooth ball by folding the edges into the bottom. Lightly oil two bowls and place a ball in each. Lightly coat the dough balls with oil, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and place both bowls in the back of the fridge. If you want to use the dough ASAP you can let the dough rise out on the counter for two hours rather than putting it in the fridge. But it won't have the same taste and it will be harder to form the pizza.

8. Let the dough rise in the fridge for several hours or overnight. About 1-2 hours before you're going to top the pizza, take the dough out and let it warm up and rise more. Don't touch the dough yet or punch it down. It should triple or more in size. Preheat the oven to 450 well before you're ready to use it. If you have a pizza stone it will take longer to heat that up completely. If you don't have a pizza stone you can preheat a cookie sheet instead.

9. Prepare all your ingredients and toppings before you touch the dough. The pizza will have to come together very quickly and you won't have time to chop or mix things. Make the sauce, but don't cook it, just mix the ingredients together. Lay out the meats, chop the veggies, grate the cheese, etc. Get your pizza peel ready by rubbing it with plenty of flour. If you don't have a pizza peel you can use a cookie sheet without a lip, or even a piece of cardboard.

10. When you're ready to make the pizza, take the dough ball out and put it on a well floured surface (not the peel). Cover both side with plenty of flour. Use your finger tips to make a well defined edge. Use a press and stretch sort of technique. Then pick up the dough and slap/stretch/spin it so that you have a pizza sized disc. 6-8 inches across is what you're going for. Try to have the dough even all the way through without making it too thin in the middle. There's no magic technique to make this happen. It just takes practice.

11. Place the dough on your peel. The goal now is to keep the dough from sticking to the peel. Give it a little shake every few seconds as you top it to make sure it will still slide. If the dough sticks to the peel you are screwed! Don't forget the shake.

12. Top the pizza however you want, but don't use too many toppings. It will cook very quickly and too much stuff on top will keep it from cooking all the way through. I use a sauce - cheese - topping - more cheese strategy, but you can use whatever you want. I've made pizzas with potatoes and salsa verda. Anything goes. Keep shaking!!!!

13. As soon as the pizza is topped, slide it onto your cooking surface it the oven. Check the clock and don't open the oven for another 7 minutes. It will probably take about 8-10 minutes to cook. And will burn if you let it go a couple minutes longer than that. Take the pizza out and let it cool a few minutes before cutting.

The food known as pizza today is actually a very Italian food. The very first pizza was created during the 19th Century and is a very recent addition to Italian cuisine. This news may sound surprising considering how simple a culinary invention pizza is: flat bread, tomato sauce, and of course cheese. Although astounding, there lies a fascinating explanation as to why there was such a delay in this food's invention and it deals with a ubiquitous fruit!

Although pizza is a strictly Italian food, Pizza's ancestors have their origins deep in Greece. The original ancestors of the Romans migrated from Greece. With the Greeks came the foods that eventually became the common fare of Italians. The breads, herbs, and other foods Italians loved were therefore ripe for becoming pizza. The recipes that predate pizza are ancient; these foods fed men and women for thousands of years. Each ancient comestible recipe is in itself a piece of history.

Is Pizza Italian or American? That is a question many individuals may not know. Perhaps the lack of discernment is a direct result of the relatively young age of this omnipresent, popular dish loved by Americans. Despite America's love of Pizza, Italians have long held the impressive boast of being the source of one of the world's favorite foods.

Before the advent of pizza, breads were cooked with herbs and served with meals or as the meal itself. A common bread we use today like this is focaccia bread. Focaccia bread is bread that has its toppings literally cooked in it. Common focaccia bread toppings include cheese, herbs, spices, and vegetables such as fresh olives or sun-dried tomatoes
. The ingredients used to make focaccia are quire reminiscent of pizza. The taste of focaccia is certainly amazing, and in Italy, the bread is a popular snack food.

The first to have baked focaccia bread were the early Greeks who migrated to Italy. If these peoples did not, then the Romans most certainly can be credited with the invention. The Romans were quite fond of breads that had toppings baked onto or in them. The Romans of course loved food. The Romans love of food is even evident in what was considered to be a cultural norm: vomiting after meals. The Romans practice of vomiting was not due to a bulimic mindset; rather, vomiting would empty the contents of the stomach and allow the person to eat again immediately.

Each ingredient is thoroughly mixed with the dough and baked to produce a robust, flavorful, and thoroughly enjoyable experience for the pallet. Olive oil is commonly used to garnish the bread.

Aside from Focaccia bread, there are many other types of seasoned breads and flat breads that bear much resemblance early forms of pizza. You will find that the early Greeks, as aforementioned, who colonized Italy can be attributed to planting the proverbial seeds of Italian cuisine. Doing a little research can reveal a interesting history and inform you of the origins of food.