Shadow Box of handwritten recipes and grandmother, great-grandmother pics for daughters shower gift! Portuguese influence of roosters and butterflies – sunflowers for our darling Jody. Scrapbook paper lining, stapled bakers twine, mini-clothespins and a lot of love. Recipe book included more family recipes and authors pictures too. Accidental heirloom moment. Wearing a ‘share the love’ apron! Say no to digital and yes to handwritten! Cheers

Pizza toppings, oh the creative fun to be had!  Now that you have the basics for a great crust and sauce – let me share some topping ideas from our daily specials.  The “Greek” and Thursday’s specials were and still are, by far, my favorites!  All pizzas are topped with shredded mozzarella, even when other cheese are added to the suggestions.

Monday:  Alfredo sauce (your favorite brand), chicken, broccoli and red bell pepper thinly sliced.

Tuesday:  Pesto sauce, artichoke hearts, red pepper and mushroom.

Wednesday: The “Greek” – Red sauce, sausage, red onion, pepperoncini, kalamata olives and feta cheese.

Thursday:  Red sauce, chicken, caramelized onion, roasted red bell pepper and gorgonzola.

Friday:  A Friday Special that was available everyday!  It’s Montana folks – we are a meat consuming state!  Red sauce, pepperoni, sausage, onion, mushroom, bell pepper.

Saturday:  Hot Wings Pizza – bbq sauce, chicken, bacon, green onion, celery, blue cheese, and a few dabs of tabasco.

Another personal and family favorite is the Pizza Margherita.  Story goes that it was invented to impress Queen Margherita of Savoy, using the colors of Italy’s flag. The tomato sauce represents Red, sliced mozzarella represents White and fresh basil the Green. Her name stayed with this combination and has been enjoyed since the late 1800’s.  Our personal connection to this is the name Margherita, which translates to Daisy, our youngest daughter’s name.  How fitting!

You may be asking by now, why I titled this post – Pepperoni on Top!

Well, that’s where pepperoni belongs of course!  Next to good ole plain cheese pizza, pepperoni flies out of every pizza parlor, and frozen food section by the truckload.  Have you ever thought you grabbed a slice of cheese, only to find there was pepperoni hiding under the melting mozzarella!  I have, and….confession time;  I do NOT like pepperoni. There, I’ve said it.  To make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else with that same secret – always, always place your pepperoni on top!

Cheers my fellow pizza lovers!  How about a royal wave in honor of Queen Margherita of Savoy…… bon appetit!

Pizza Dough
@ 24hr start to finish ☺

I have divided my basic 1/2 batch recipe by 1/8 for the home baker.

1 Tbls. Instant Yeast
1 Tbls. + 1-1/2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbls. Salt
Place in bowl, give a stir to mix.
¼ cup oil (olive, vegetable, canola)
2 cups warm @110 degree water
Add to dry ingredients, give a stir and let sit for 10 mins.
4 cups flour
Add 2 cups at a time, mixing well after each addition.
(In my large dough batches I add 1/3 cup dough conditioner – Honeyville brand available thru Amazon – this helps with elasticity, but in small batches, I find you don’t truly need it. IF you chose to use it, just a pinch would do. Also, I use Wheat Montana all-purpose un-bleached flour. A bread flour or any flour, brand of flour, could be substituted or combined to achieve a different texture.)

At this point I use my hands and mix/kneed until the dough has that soft feel to it – possibly adding more flour, but will still be a bit moist. Place dough in a plastic container, cover and let rise on your counter for 2 or more hours – after each hour, lift lid and give it a punch or pick up and pop the container on the counter until you see the dough start to sink – cover. After the 2 hrs.,(additional counter time is fine) place in the refrigerator overnight.

To “size” the dough: remove from refrigerator and turn out onto floured Counter Top, sprinkle flour on top of the dough and measure (I use a sharp Dough Scraper to cut) and weigh out 12 to 16 ounce quantity and shape into dough ball. Place dough balls into plastic bags. Dough is actually ready to use now, or, refrigerate up to 1 week, or, freeze; place plastic bagged dough ball into freezer bag – up to 3 months. – Thaw on counter top for 8 hrs.

To Use: Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Roll or hand stretch/toss your dough ball to desired size. Par bake on pizza stone or Cast Iron Pizza Pan for 1-2 mins. Top with sauce and desired toppings and cheese – rule of thumb – less is more! and bake additional 12-14 mins. depending on your oven. Enjoy!!!
Tip: After shaping your pizza dough, use a Dough Docker to aerate the dough, makes for more even baking – baking at a higher temperature provides a less chewy crust.

Pizza Sauce
Mix and go!

1 – 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 – 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 Tbls. dried oregano
1 Tbls. dried basil
2 tsp. sugar
1-1/8 tsp. garlic powder
¾ tsp. ground black pepper
¾ tsp. onion salt

Place in canning jar or other airtight container and store in the refrigerator
up to 1 week. – Truthfully, can be frozen in freezer food safe container with your dough – up to 3 months. – Measure out 1/2 cup, enough to top 1) 16 oz. pizza dough.

I would love and truly appreciate if you added a picture of yourself, your dough and/or the finished product in your comments below.

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
― Julia Child

My favorite mini chef, and granddaughter!  Cella Cella – guess I better get her an apron!

Baby steps…..one year and one day is what it took to bravely step out into the blogosphere.  Thanks for stopping by – I am looking forward to putting you in charge, thus making me accountable, for a weekly blog post.  I have yet to pick out the appropriate apron for this task.  So stay tuned, I’ll see you next week then you can help me tie one on….  Cheers