Mambo Italiano

So tonight..... I'm:

-Making homemade pizza - one of my favorite things to make EVER

-Having Libby and Whit over for homemade pizza night

-Using copious amounts of fresh tomatoes (not from Joan's garden, unfortunately) and fresh mozzarella 

-having many refills of malbec on the patio 

When I first decided to do pizza night earlier this week (while reminiscing over OTHER wonderful pizza nights with Whitney), I had decided to make our regular favorite; Crab Avocado. However, I decided I definitely needed to incorporate something new to my marinara sauce. The pizza's I make are almost always thick-crusted and the sauce is very sweet (which I love).

I felt that tonight called for a change, and added honey and extra red pepper to my regular sauce. I also made two of our regular favorite pizzas (the avocado crab) and a pepperoni and tomato (I really wanted to throw corn or zucchini on this - but no one seemed psyched about this). These pictures were taken before I put the avocado on, but I always put that on right before I set it on the table. Delicious!

Did I mention it was in the 90's today? It was in the 90's today. As much as I don't handle heat well, I couldn't help but soak up the sun this evening in a flowy skirt and no shoes. It was perfect. The food was really good - but the company was better. :)

Amazing Pizza Sauce

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 tablespoon ground oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground paprika

1 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 tablespoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Nie Nie's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (I stole this off of one of my favorite blogs ever years ago http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/)

2-¾ whole-wheat flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1-teaspoon salt

1 packet of yeast

Dissolve packet of yeast into 1-cup warm water with ¼ teaspoon sugar, let sit for 7 minutes (or until risen)

Mix flour, olive oil and yeast mixture with dough hook. For about 5 minutes. 

Place in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap in warm spot for about 1 hour (or desired risen state) 

Roll out and add toppings. Cook for 17-18 minutes on 475 (those are my oven settings anyway)

I usually make 2 rectangle (cookie sheet) pizzas.