HOMEMADE ITALIAN PIZZAS

Homemade pizzas are so much fun to make! This weekend I made some Italian worthy pizzas with fresh tomato sauce, basil, calabrese salami, cured olives and fresh mozzarella di buffala. I had a friend coming for dinner and really wanted to try something different but fun! I also bought a pizza stone which made the experience so authentic and the pizzas even more delicious!

I like using fresh ingredients, so I decided to make my own tomato sauce. So for the sauce in a pot I put a few tablespoons of olive oil, a quart of cherry tomatoes and two large garlic cloves (very fine), sea salt, pepper and then a bit of basil near the end. I let tomatoes get all blistered and soft and then mashed them around with a fork. Near the end I added about 2 tbsp of tomato paste just to thicken it up a little. It was absolutely wonderful, and the tomatoes and garlic were so fragrant I felt like I was in Italy!

For the pizza dough, I really wanted to make home made dough but I unfortunately was time stricken by the need for a Halloween costume! Reluctantly I used pre-made dough, but next time it’s homemade for me. If you can, homemade dough is just so much better – but in a pinch store bought will do! Make sure the dough has softened, and then roll out using extra flour on the rolling pin and counter. Once you have made your dough into the right shape you can begin the layering process.

First start with your tomato sauce, then layer slices of fresh mozzarella di buffala. Next add desired toppings, olives, calabrese and fresh basil leaves to top it off.

If you are using a pizza stone – put the stone into a cold oven, and let heat up for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Then place the pizzas on the stone and cook for about 20-30 minutes.

Italian Pizzas

Ingredients:

- 1 ball mozzarella di buffala
- 1 quart cherry tomatoes

- Olive oil

- Salt & pepper

- Basil

- Calabrese salami

- Cured olives

- Pizza dough (store bought or homemade)

photo credit: my own

OLIVE OIL

I don’t think a single dish in Greece came with out some olive oil somewhere. Olive oil is an essential ingredient in Greek cooking as well as many other Mediterranean countries. There are over 750 million olive trees worldwide, 95% of those being in the Mediterranean region. Spain is the top producer of olive oil, but Greece holds 3rd with over 130 million olive trees which equal 350,000 tons of olive oil each year! Greece devotes 60% of their cultivated land to olive growing.

Olive oil is used in so many ways for cooking and has great health benefits – like favourbale effects on cholesterol, good omega-6 acids, vitamin E and antioxidants!
Get this – there is an International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) which is based out of Madrid. The council promotes olive oil worldwide by tracking production, defining quality standards and monitoring authenticity.

There are different retail grades of olive oil:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: come from virgin oil production only (oil was produced by use of physical means, with no chemical treatment)
Virgin Olive Oil: virgin production only
Pure Olive Oil: Usually a blend of refined and virgin production oil
Olive Oil: Lacks a strong flavour and is a blend of refined and virgin production
Olive Pomace Oil: refined pomace olive oil that is blended with some virgin oil. Very neutral flavour
Lampante Oil: Not suitable for food. Used for oil burning lamps
Refined Olive Oil: l has been chemically treated to neutralize strong tastes (characterized as defects) and neutralize the acid content (free fatty acids). Refined oil is commonly regarded as lower quality than virgin oil.

Well-made olive oil is delicious as is. As a dip for bread, drizzled over pasta or a pizza, over any type of salad, with mozzarella or feta cheese or on top an appetizer of tzatziki. Olive oil is such a multi-purpose cooking ingredient!

photo credit: google images