Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Pizza Recipe

We have been loving to buy fresh mozzarella cheese lately, and we love this pizza recipe. It is a reminder to me of how the food was when I was in Italy: light, fresh, and delicious. Enjoy!

Neapolitan Style Pizza Crust
generous 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast
1/2 cup warm (about 100 degrees) water
1 teaspoon all-purpose unbleached flour
1 to 1-1/4 cups organic, stone ground all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt additional flour
In a medium mixing bowl or food processor, blend yeast, water, and teaspoon of flour. Foam should form on the surface in about 8 minutes (if not, yeast is past its prime; find fresher). Then blend in rest of flour and salt, forming a smooth, quite soft, slightly sticky dough. Blend in food processor no more than 30 seconds (then knead 5 minutes by hand); in mixer blend for about 5 minutes; by hand stir to blend and knead 5 minutes. Place in a large oiled bowl, cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand in a cool place until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours). If not ready to bake, keep dough covered and hold up to 8 hours. About 20 minutes before baking, punch down, knead a minute or two and then form into a ball, cover.

To make pizza, lightly oil a 14- to 16-inch pizza pan. Preheat oven to 500 degrees, setting rack as low as possible in oven. Roll out dough as thin as possible to about a 16-inch round (no more than 1/16-inch thick). Spread over pan, rolling in edges to form a rim. Let rest 10 minutes. Top as desired or suggested below and bake 10 minutes. Then using a spatula and thick oven mitt, slip the pizza off the pan directly onto the oven rack by pulling out rack, grasping pizza pan firmly with protected hand, and using spatula or pancake turner to slip pie off pan and onto rack. Slide rack back in place and bake 2 minutes. Slip pie back onto pan, remove from oven. Cut and serve.

Margherita Topping:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, minced
1 sprig parsley, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dry oregano
1-1/2 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes
1/3 cup packed fresh basil leaves, torn
3 ounces fresh mozzarella (in liquid), thinly sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper and salt
In a 10-inch skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high. Sauté onion and parsley to golden, then stir in garlic and oregano for a few seconds. Add tomatoes, crushing them as they go into the pan (do not substitute crushed tomatoes). Boil, stirring, 5 minutes or until thick.

Spread sauce over rolled out crust, sprinkle with basil, mozzarella, and finally the oil. Finish with generous black pepper and a little salt. Bake as directed above.

our Saturday morning breakfast favorite

Here's a healthy yet heavy recipe that we enjoy around here every Saturday morning. Sam loves for me to make his pancakes in the shape of cats and dogs. He's pretty creative to think that my attempt actually looks like cats and dogs. Anyways, try it; they are delicious and a great way to use up food storage wheat.

1 c. milk (we use soy milk)
1 c. whole wheat
2 eggs (we use a ripe banana as a substitute)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp honey or sugar (I prefer honey; it has more of a flavor)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil

1. In a blender, blend wheat and milk until it is a smooth consistency.
2. Add other ingredients and blend until smooth.
3. Cook over hot skillet. Serve hot with syrup. We actually prefer fresh raspberry topping; it goes better with the hint of banana.

ENJOY!!

recipe sharing

I love to cook, and I love trying new recipes. I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite, creative recipes. Give them a try, let me know what you think, and feel free to share your recipes with me. I get tired of eating the same old things over and over. The recipe I'm posting today is one I've used for awhile. It's different, but it has a great flavor. This time I made it a little spicier than normal, and Sam was practically drinking the sauce and saying "I love it." He loves it spicy just like me. Let me know if you try it.

Enchiladas Negras (A Yucatan recipe)

2 lbs mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (7 oz) diced green chilies 1 1/2 c. green salsa verde
1 small onion, finely chopped 1 can (10 oz) red enchilada sauce
1 tsp cumin 1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. vegetable or chicken broth 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp cornstarch 12 corn tortillas (6 1/2- 7 in.)

1. In a 5 qt. pan, combine mushrooms, chilies, onion, cumin, and 1/2 c. broth. Bring to a simmer over med.-high heat; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are juicy and limp, 12-15 min. Uncover, increase heat, and stir often until vegetables are dry and beginning to brown, about 20 min. BE SURE TO STIR OFTEN OR THEY WILL BURN AND STICK!!
2. In a bowl, blend cornstarch with remaining 1 c. broth. Add sour cream and whisk to blend. Add to mushroom mixture and stir until boiling, 1-3 minutes.
3. In a blender, whirl beans, salsa, and enchilada sauce.
4. Pour 1 1/2 cups bean sauce into 9x13 baking dish. Stack 6 tortillas and cut in half. Lay 6 of the halves in casserole straight edges against casserole sides, then overlap 3 whole tortillas to completely cover bottom. Scrape mushroom mixture onto tortillas and spread level. Fit straight edges of remaining tortilla halves against casserole sides then overlap remaining whole tortillas to cover filling. Pour remaining black bean sauce over tortillas and spread to coat.
5. Bake in 350 oven until sauce is bubbling, 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and bake until melted, 3-5 min.
6. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 min. Serve and enjoy!!