pizza margherita date night

This past year I have enjoyed providing as much TLC as I could for all of my sweet, little flowers and plants growing on my covered porch. Some of the plants have sweated it out and survived the Texas heat, including one I nursed back to green from its original sunburned state on the clearance shelf at my local nursery. Don’t get me wrong; I’m no green thumb angel. There have been a few casualties. During my mom’s last visit I asked her what I should do to revive my plants. Her answer…pray. Even though I’ve had my ups and downs with my emerald porch, my herb garden has beat the odds and completely thrived. What once began as a mini mountain of small seeds has now grown into luscious leaves from my OCD water routine, anxious love and a few Amens thrown in for good measure. Each seed was carefully pressed in the calculated soil divided by an imaginary dirt line to section off the basil, chives and curly parsley. To my complete surprise, only basil grew in the place I planted the chives and parsley and nothing grew in the designated basil area. No worries, I could live without the other herbs since I’m more of an Italian parsley kind of girl. With the convenience of the fresh herbs right outside my door, I have been using the basil in several dishes, including lemon garlic shrimp fettuccine and rosemary basil baked chicken. This past weekend for my date night with Trey, we decided to enjoy an evening of homemade pizza with friends featuring personal pizza toppings and wine as the cost of admission.

All great pizza starts with the dough, so it was important that we got this part right.  I knew if anyone had a perfect pizza dough recipe it would be Kristina Vanni from Better Recipes. She tweeted me back Pizzeria Mozza fantastic steps to success.

Pizzeria Mozza Pizza Dough

22 oz. warm tap water

1/2 oz. compressed yeast

26 oz. bread flour

1/2 oz. dark rye flour

1/4 oz. wheat germ

1/4 oz. honey

1/2 oz. kosher salt

 

1. Put the water in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the yeast and let it sit for a few minutes to dissolve.

2. Add the bread flour, rye flour, wheat germ and honey and mix on low speed with a dough hook for 2 minutes. Add the salt, increase the speed to high, and mix the dough for 6 to 7 minutes, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. While the dough is mixing, lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil.

3. Turn the dough out of the bowl and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Tightly wrap the perimeter of the bowl with kitchen twine or with another piece of plastic wrap to further seal the bowl. Set the dough aside at moderate room temperature (68-70 degrees) for 45 minutes.

4. Dust your work surface lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Turn the edges of the dough toward the center, acting as if the round has four sides. Turn the dough over and place it, folded side down, back in the bowl. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and set it aside for 45 minutes.

5. Dust your work surface again lightly with flour and turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Divide the dough into six equal segments, each weighing approximately 7 ounces. Gently tuck the edges of each round of the dough under itself. Shape each segment into a round. Cover the dough rounds with a clean dish towel and let them rest for 5 minutes.

6. Lightly flour your hands and use both hands pulling toward you to gather each round of dough into a taught ball. Dust a baking sheet generously with flour and place the dough rounds on the baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with a dishcloth and set them again at moderate room temperature (68-70 degrees) for 1 hour. Leave the dough rounds at room temperature as you shape each round. Use the dough immediately.

Trey’s Tomato Sauce

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

1 clove of fresh garlic, minced

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped

6 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 c onion, chopped

Tbsp. ground oregano

Dash of garlic salt

First we sautéed the garlic and onion in extra virgin olive oil until the onions began to brown. Then we added the remaining ingredients and let them simmer as we rolled out the first pizza dough. Rolling out pizza dough and decorating with toppings is a great way to entertain friends while preparing dinner at the same time. Once the dough was ready, we brushed extra virgin olive oil along the surface to make sure we had the crispy, crunchy crust we wanted.

For the second pizza, Trey and I wanted to really utilize my fresh basil so we did pizza margherita. With the same sauce as the base, we used a variety of toppings, including fresh mozzarella, freshly grated Parmigriano-Reggiano, sliced tomatoes and of course, the star of the night, coarsely chopped basil.

The night didn’t end there. With the extra pizza dough we opted for butter instead of EVOO and made a cinnamon pizza for dessert. With a sprinkle of cinnamon, some sugar and time, our party of four grew to a party of six to enjoy the final dish for the night.

Even if you are not a pizza fan, using this dough for a dessert pizza is a great party idea. You could even spread cream cheese on the dough and cover it with mixed fruit for a fresh and light summer dessert.

red, white and blueberry

Grilling out, soaking up the sun and watching bursts of red, white and blue in the night sky; if there was ever a weekend that could define summer, fourth of July would be it. This Independence Day I wanted to bake an American classic with a star-spangled twist. This blueberry pie has been featured on many blogs, but don’t let those sassy stars fool you, this really is an easy-to-bake treat that all your patriotic party patrons will love to eat!  So grab a scoop of ice cream and fresh whipped cream, this pie is yummy to the red, white and blueberry.

Star-Spangled Blueberry Pie

Yield: 8 servings

FILLING:

6 c blueberries

2 tsp grated lemon zest

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

6 Tbsp all-purpose flour

3/4 c sugar

1 unbaked piecrust (recipe below)

Extra dough

 

CRUST:

2 c all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted

Butter

4 or 5 Tbsp cold milk

Extra flour for rolling the dough

 

 

1.Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Cut the butter into slices with a dinner knife and scatter the pieces on top of the flour. 2. Pulse the flour and butter until they are combined and the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough sticks to itself when gently squeezed.

2. Pulse the flour and butter until they are combined and the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough sticks to itself when gently squeezed.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Use your hands to shape it into two balls, one twice as large as the other. Using extra flour as needed to prevent sticking, roll the larger ball to fit a 9- or 10-inch pie pan. Wrap the smaller piece of dough tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use. Makes a 9- or 10-inch piecrust, plus extra for a decorative top crust.

4. Heat the oven to 375º F. Place the blueberries in a large bowl, and sprinkle with the lemon zest, lemon juice, flour and sugar. Toss gently until the berries are evenly coated.

5. Line a 9- or 10-inch pie pan with the rolled piecrust dough and crimp the edges. Pour the filling into the crust.

6. Let your kids cut the extra dough into shapes with cookie cutters.

7. Lay the shapes, touching one another, on top of the filling.

8. Press any pieces that meet the sides of the crust into the edges.

9. Place the pie pan on a foil-lined tray (to catch any spills) and bake in the lower third of the oven for 45 minutes or until the filling is bubbly around the edges and the crust is lightly browned. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.