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| Lobster Pizza |
Melissa's Pizza
DOUGH
1/4 c. Marsala wine
3/4 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. dried yeast
tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. honey
3 c. flour
Preheat to 420-430 degree oven. I use a cast iron Pizza Pan and I put it in the oven while the oven is heating up so it is red hot when I go to make the Pizza. You can use a cast iron skillet with good success. The reason I do this, is it makes a very crispy thin crust. I divid the dough into 2 balls. This recipe makes two pizzas. I roll out the dough with a rolling pin (secret to making it extra thin). I have all my ingredients ready out on the counter because once you take the hot pan(s) out of the oven, time is of the essence to get it assembled. I quickly place the rolled out dough onto a red hot and ungreased pan. Then I quickly put on the 1 c. Sauce (recipe below) , 1/2 lb. Lobster Meat, 2 Springs Basil Leaves, and 2 c. shredded Mozzerella and 1/2 shredded Parmesan cheese. Once the pizza goes in the oven, I turn it down to 400 degrees. I put it on the lowest rack for 10 minutes and then switch it to the higher rack for 10 minutes. If your oven is a hot oven, the timing may take more or less. I am trying to replicate the brick oven temperatures and experience to get that really good, you can't buy this type of Pizza anywhere taste.
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| Lobster Pizza fresh out of the Oven |
Melissa's Fresh Tomato Sauce
I puree fresh tomatoes in my blender or you can use canned whole tomatoes. If you are making a nice batch of sauce figure on 2 large cans of tomatoes or 4 or 5 lbs fresh tomatoes. These particular tomatoes were frozen from last year's garden and I need to use them up before I am inundated with this years crop (coming soon). I put the tomatoes in my crock pot, add fresh herbs from my garden such as Oregano, Chives, and Basil. Then I saute an Onion just a little bit and put that in the mix. You can add Garlic if you like too but my husband doesn't like it so I don't add it but you can add anything else you have on hand like peppers or garlic. I like a nice Margarita taste to my pizza so a simple sauce is best for me. One of the tricks to a good sauce when using fresh tomatoes is to put a potato in the pot while it is cooking as this takes out any bitterness from the seeds. I learned this from the Italian community here in Gloucester. You can also use a carrot or other root vegetable. When my children were little they used to beg to eat the potato after the sauce was cooked. Truthfully, I throw it away, usually, but some people consider it a delicacy. I also add about 3 Tbsp. of Sugar or Honey to sweeten it up. Set the crock pot on high and let it cook for several hours. If the sauce is thin, add 1 can of tomato paste to thicken it. After cooking for several hours, you can jar it up into a couple quart size jars and keep it in the refrigerator till you need sauce for a recipe. I grow lots of tomatoes every year and I freeze or can them for making sauce later. Sometimes I make huge batches of just sauce in the fall and freeze bags of it for the winter. I usually have anywhere from 16-25 tomato plants in any given summer. This year, I am trying to dial it back and only have around 16 tomato plants. I try to grown several Roma plants but I am also a Big Boy fan and I love heirloom tomatoes too. Making your own sauce is an art and everyone has their own ideas of what works for them and what doesn't. I like a fresh natural taste. Other people like loads of garlic flavor. Basically you can be as creative as you want but the upshot is that I might spend $12-$20 on tomato plants in the spring and end up with 50 quarts of sauce or stewed tomatoes in the fall plus all the fresh tomatoes I grew and ate or gave away all summer. I have at least $100+ of tomatoes in my freezer every year. You can't beat fresh tomatoes and all the things you can cook with them including Pizza. A good garden cook as an arsenal of tomato recipes. I hope to share more of them with you in the future! Meanwhile Abondanza!
