Pizza No. 1

Things to note about me. I love cheese. LOVE CHEESE!! Thus, pizza could possibly be my favorite meal. Unfortunately, I completely lose all self control when it comes to pizza and just want to eat the whole thing with complete disregard to my health and stomach size. Usually, a meal of pizza ends with me moaning on the couch saying things like "I want to die!" and "never again!" I believe this to be a lifelong struggle that may or may not require years of therapy. Alas, I always live (which consequently means that I will inevitable eat pizza again; it's an endless cycle).

Because of this tragic lack of self control, I limit my pizza consumption throughout the year. This self-inflicted abstinence has led me to a state of depression. I realized at some point that there was a simple solution: make my own healthy, portion controlled pizza.

Ok now here is the part when I have to admit something to the world (yes, the world I eat). I can't just eat any pizza. I'm a pizza snob. It's frustrating and annoying to pretty much everyone around me. I stick my nose up to the typical take-out, shun the frozen section at the grocery store, and judge people for partaking in buffets. Sorry national pizza chains, I don't like you. That being said, I couldn't just go get a personal "healthy" pizza from the grocery store or something and call it a day. So I did what any normal pizza loving person would do. I read for hours on the internet about pizza and soon came up with a game plan to make my own. I must admit, my personal pizza skills need some work, but at the end of the day, if you smother anything with Fontina and garlic, how can you really go wrong?

My recipes were adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Pizza Dough:

2 cups WW flour
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water
3 tablespoons olive oil

Stir first four ingredients in a large bowl. Once mixed, add the remaining two ingredients and mix until combined. Dump ingredients onto clean surface and knead for one or two minutes.

Return dough to well oiled bowl and wrap with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. Leave in fridge all day (my fridge is too cold so I took it out an hour or so early to warm up and rise some more). When doubled in size, take out of fridge and press down to deflate with the palm of your hand. Separate into three balls, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an additional 20 min.

Once dough has almost fully risen, heat oven to the highest temperature (mine was 550 F) with pizza stone placed in upper third of the oven (due to the demise of my pizza stone, I used an upside down heavy cooking sheet). Roll out each crust onto a piece of parchment paper lightly dusted with cornmeal. Add desired toppings to first pizza crust. Slide the parchment paper with pizza onto the pizza stone. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is browning lightly on top.

Pizza Sauce (This recipe is really for pasta, but I was too excited to try it so I used it for pizza as well. As my family learned later, this sauce is definitely better as a pasta sauce, but whateves.)

28 oz can whole pealed tomatoes
4 tablespoons butter
1 medium yellow onion pealed and cut in half
Salt to taste

Pour tomatoes into a saucepan with butter. Add onion halves. Stew sauce over low heat for 45 min, stirring occasionally. When the onion has softened, remove it from the sauce and reserve for a later use.

Pizza Toppings:

Pizza 1: sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil
Pizza 2: crushed garlic, fontina, prosciutto, and topped with arugula after it was out of the oven
Pizza 3: mozzarella, Fontina, Gorgonzola, olives, red onion, and mushrooms

All and all, I need to try attempt number 2. "Jenny Eat World" might turn into "Jenny Eat Pizza... Often".