A Word From The Other Parsimonious Chef...: Home Is Where The Hearth is. Homemade Pizza.....

Homemade Pepperoni Pizza

Roasted Fennel Pizza

Spending time with my family & friends is really important to me. More than anything I enjoy visiting, talking with, cooking for and being around my family and friends. On the weekends we meet up, cook, drink play games and just enjoy being in each other's presence. In a large family food is always going to be the highlight of any gathering and when you have a family or friends that cook there's never anyone that will concede to being the non cooker of the bunch. I'm fortunate enough to have siblings that can cook with the best of them. My sister Robin has the baking thing on lock, hands down. My brother Bernard is the "Seafood Guru", while my brother Mike (AKA steak mouth) can make a steak that would shame anything you get at Ruth's Chris or any other steakhouse for that matter. My sister Cheryl, does everything from frying to casseroles and as a matter of fact she threw together some fried pork chops on Mother's Day that had me damn near in tears of joy. My sister Joanie's Crab Cakes are better than anyone's that I have tasted, even mine and I take second chair to no one in that area except for her. The best times of all are when we can all cook together and be together. I can't think of a better activity to bring families and friends together than cooking, and what better to cook on the weekend than Homemade Pizza for the crew.

On the menu for this Weekend is: Pizza

Thick Cut Pepperoni with Fresh Mozzarella, Basil and Red Onions

Roasted Fennel, Red Onion, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Roasted Garlic and Tarragon

Pizza is an indulgence that I reserve for the weekends only. I have a love affair with pepperoni, tomato sauce and bread that can only be described as excessive, so the marriage of the group of my favorites in the form of a single food called pizza is one that I appreciate without compromise. I'm sure that there are plenty that agree, with over $30 B in sales annually and over 63,000 pizza parlors in the U.S. alone the stats certainly agree.

While some prefer the thick Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza, I am a thin crust lover and prefer thicker slices of pepperoni. To me the bread should never dominate the taste of a good pizza, the toppings are and should be the star of this show.

While there are plenty of places that sell a great pizza pie, I prefer to make mine at home with friends and family. Pizza making is a great family bonding activity especially if you have children. It's a time to let everyone contribute to dinner and an easy introduction to cooking for the first time.

You can make you own dough, buy a pre-made shell or use my preferred method of buying the pre-made raw dough and rolling it yourself (see picture below). The advantages of rolling you own dough is that you can determine the thickness all on your own. By making pizza yourself you spend less money, have more quality time with your circle and choose the ingredients all on our own without having to pay an extra .99 cents per topping.

Store Bought Raw Pizza Dough

As far as toppings are concerned, I am a meat lover specifically pepperoni or sausage. While I love thin crust thick sliced pepperoni is all the rage for me. Rolling out you own dough can seem intimidating but in actuality it's quite easy and doesn't even require a rolling pin as you can clearly see in the video above. Just use a bottle covered in plastic wrap. The smell of Basil fresh or baking is so fragrant and inviting that the neighbors just may show up unannounced. The thick cut pepperoni adds contrast to the thin crust and is a much better product than the prepackage counterpart. Finally the pizza sauce can simply be whatever left over tomato sauce you have available or you can just buy pasta sauce. I stay away from buying pizza sauce because I'll never use it all up before it goes bad, with the pasta sauce I can always us it to pasta (frugal).

Pepperoni

We need the following for the Pepperoni Pizza:

Raw Pizza Dough (1 Pizza)
Flour (1-2 Tbs)
Tomato Sauce (1/2 Cup)
Red Onions (1/4 onion)
Mozzarella (1/2 cup)
Fresh Mozzarella (4 oz)
Fresh Basil (7-8 leaves)
Garlic (1/2 tsp)
Thick Cut Pepperoni (1/2 #)

You can buy you raw pizza dough from store like Whole Foods, once you plan on using it be sure to let it sit out uncovered for about 15-20 minutes to loosen. On a clear and cleaned counter spread flour and rest the dough on it. See attached video above for a demo on how to roll dough. Once the dough is flattened and sized to the desired liking place on a pan sprayed cooking sheet or aluminum foil. Finally as shown in the video above aerate the dough by poking holes with a fork (see picture below)

Aerated Pizza Dough

Tomato Sauce

Basil First

Fully Dressed Pizza

Add the sauce as shown in the picture above and then the basil. Add the grated mozzarella, minced garlic and sliced red onions as shown and then the pepperoni adding the fresh mozzarella as shown. Finally place in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes being sure to check frequently, you may need to rotate the pizza for even browning. Once the pizza is out of the oven add fresh basil as shown and allow to cool before cutting and enjoy. Cut the basil into thin strips (chiffonade).

Viola

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Roasted Fennel with Sun Dried Tomatoes

For the Roasted Fennel Pizza we will need the following:

Fennel Bulbs (2 each)
Sun Dried Tomatoes (1 cup)
Red Onions
Garlic (2 tsp)
Olive Oil (2 Tbs)
Tarragon (1/2 cup)
Basil (1 cup)
Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese (3 Tbs)
Mozzarella (1/4 cup)
Capers (3 Tbs)

Roll the dough as shown above. Combine the capers, basil, tarragon, garlic, parm. cheese and olive oil in a food processor or blender to make your sauce then spread the mixture on the pizza. Julienne the fennel and roast in an oven for 10-13 minutes and set aside. Julienne the sun dried tomatoes, onions and after adding the mozzarella to the pizza add the julienned vegetables to the pizza. Cook in an oven preheated to 400 for 15 minutes.