saturday night pizza

I have always wanted to designate a pizza night of the week. Friday seems cliche, as does Saturday; however, I was short on time all this week (this seems to be a common theme as of late....school rules my life at times) and before I knew it, Saturday was nipping at my heels.

So, I made a pizza. I felt like Old Mother Hubbard whose cupboard was bare. We only had some mushrooms and one tomato left from our groceries. I whipped up a sauce (same recipe as always) and made a crust (same recipe, as always) and threw her in the oven.

Todd gave it an 8.5, "this is the best pizza by far!" I actually made two pizzas....one on the stone and one on a baking sheet that turned out super thin crust and crispy (!).

It's amazing what results when you have limited resources....kinda like life sometimes.

sauceless pizza

My first attempt, ever, of a sauceless pizza! It was so delicious, no lies. Gorgonzola cheese with sliced garlic, the last of the grape tomatoes, walnuts and olive oil.

As I progress into this pizza commitment, I'm realizing some techniques that I had been missing before. Though I'm still not completely satisfied with my crust (and regretfully I've not tried that new crust, I know, I know, I need to get on that). But just little secrets that I've discovered make this little weekly adventure more adventurous, and taste wonderful.

Next week (the 18th) the mister and I are celebrating two years of marriage. I have plans for a special pizza for him...onions galore.

A few photos; next time I plan on placing the cheese all the way to the end of the crust.

our first pizza dinner guests

todd's parents came over this wednesday night to join us for dinner. i purchase some ground pork from jacobs meat market and found a recipe to guide me in flavoring the meat for sausage.

the crust turned out super thin and pretty firm as well (still not the crust recipe i've been meaning to try). i threw some sliced red onions on as well.

sausage and onion pizza

the vandenbergs ate it up right quick

instead of just one pizza, i also made a simple grape tomato with basil....i guess todd and i ate ours really fast as well. so can i take off one week of the 52 because i made two different pizzas?? i used up the last of sarah's famous pizza sauce....i will have to perfect mine.

tomato and fresh basil......simple and delicious

fifty more to go. . .

pizza number two was a success! four cheese with homemade almond pesto and white sauce. it turned out to be super rich, and i could only muster enough room for 2 pieces. i dined alone will the mister slept in order to be ready to work at 12 am. but he ate a cold piece and said he couldn't rate it because it was not fresh and hot. (maybe he was being nice, as i didn't particularly care for this pizza.) i'm afraid to say this, but maybe too much garlic from the pesto and white sauce. i never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but i've got indigestion like you wouldn't believe.

four cheese pizza:

crust from scratch (still not the recipe i've been meaning to use; having two exams this week is kicking my rear!)

almond pesto

white sauce

fresh mozzarella

grated romano

cheddar

and a bit of feta

one and counting

so, it's over and done with. i made my first pizza of this whole year long commitment. todd kept saying, "what are you going to name this pizza?" i couldn't think of a name, so i'll just list the ingredients. though my first failure of this whole experiment was not making the new crust recipe that i found online....i just didn't have the time. next time.

finely chopped artichoke,

grape tomatoes,

a little red onion,

feta,

mozzarella,

a new homemade sauce from sarah b.

after it was finished baking, i added some fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

todd rated it a 7.5, "what, i can't give you a ten on your first pizza." i should've said it wasn't my first pizza.

we enjoyed a side salad as well, with red leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, and some parmesan cheese....

it is my only hope that these fifty two pizzas will inspire and create, and hopefully even challenge us as well. and of course increase with taste and interest.

the beginning is near

we've decided our first week of pizza making will ensue this wednesday. i've a new recipe for a crust that will ferment and blossom in the fridge overnight. my friend sarah made some pizza sauce with tomatoes from her mom's garden, and it smells so garlicy good. can't wait to use it. so i think we'll just start it at that, new crust, and new sauce will ring in week one of pizza.