When the moon hits you eye like a big pizza pie...that's amore!
My family loves the idea of having a pizza delivered to the house. I'd rather make my own with fresh veggies and grated cheese. I have been known to bake up a pizza and then take it outside and knock on the door to deliver dinner.Pizza was once considered a peasant's meal in Italy. There is some indication that the ancient Greeks and Egyptians also ate dough piled up with vegetables, cheeses and meat (not everyone is a vegetarian, you know).
I've read that the modern pizza was invented by Neopolitan baker Raffaele Esposito in 1889, who owned a restaurant called the Pizzeria di Pietro. He put cheese, roasted vegetables and meat on a loaf of bread and covered the dish with his special tomato sauce, which he served in honor of the visit of his King Umberto I and Queen Margherita. Alternatively, I read that a restauranteur in New Jersey threw a similar recipe together in order to use up bread at the end of the day.
Regardless of the origins, everyone loves the crispy (or thick abd chewy) crust, the sauce, the cheese and the wide variety of toppings on pizza. Here's a basic pizza recipe that you can customize to be whatever you want.
Pizza
Dough
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons (or more, as needed) water
- Mix the flour and butter together with a fork until it's crumbly, mix with water unil a smooth dough is formed.
- Roll it out, put it in a greased pie pan, spray lightly with oil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until it just begins to brown.
Filling
- Add a small amount of tomato sauce.
- Top with spinach, onions, peppers, olives or whatever vegetables you have on hand
- Grate some mozzarella and parmesan cheese over the top
- Add grape tomatoes and green onions or whatever else strikes your fancy
- Continue to bake at 350 degrees for another 10 or 15 minutes
