"Santa Maria! Eet eez ze primera firsta pizza froma da cucina da Yorkshirea Budino! Eez mama woulda beena prouda hera ragazzo! Molto bene! Molto bene!"
Yes, my friends it is true. Until yesterday I had never made a pizza. To tell you the truth I have never been a big fan of pizza - often describing it as a disc of pastry with stuff smeared on top.
The beloved daughter had bought us some ready made pizza dough and the "use by" date was fast approaching so my first pizza just had to be made.
After carefully unwrapping the dough, I laid it on some greaseproof paper. Then I smeared some tomato passata upon it. I had boiled this down with a chopped fresh tomato, a couple of spoonfuls of tomato purée and some onion salt
Then I scattered some cheese on top - a grated mixture of mozzarella and cheddar. Then thin slices of courgette that I had spread thinly with green pesto. Then thin slices of tomato and chopped fresh basil , finally tinned anchovy slices, a little black pepper and oregano and finally a drizzle of olive oil. You can see the pizza above before I popped it in the oven.
We ate the pizza with a fresh side salad. It was pretty good but I forgot to take a photo of it when I pulled it from the oven. Sorry about that. It was a wondrous thing to behold. However, if there was a Pizza Political Party it remains unlikely that I would vote for it. I still can't really understand all the fuss about pizzas. Instead, give me a golden homemade Yorkshire pudding with beef gravy any time. Much better.
Now I'm going to offend you. I like pizza. Yorkshire pudding isn't big here and I eat very little beef.
ReplyDeleteYou are a crazy guy Red.
DeleteIt looks delicious! I love homemade pizza because you can design just what you like and also keep it a little healthier than restaurant pizza. It does look like your first pizza was a great success!
ReplyDeleteI have heard that some Americans have pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner too.
DeletePizza is life!
ReplyDelete🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
Who said that? William Shakespeare?
DeleteIf you are what you eat, YP, then you are a Yorkshire Pudding, with a side of beef and drowning in gravy. And a cheat. You can't claim having "made" Pizza with a ready made dough.
ReplyDeleteTake a leaf out of the Angel's book and knead your own dough. From scratch. You know, flour and stuff. And time. The first time my son worked pastry I took some photos. He was three and totally in the zone. You know, when someone completely concentrates on the task in hand, unhurried?
Anyway, congratulations on your half baked attempt at making Pizza. I wish I could convey to you how I pronounce Pizza. Makes the Angel and his friends smile. But then, for effect and it amused his father, I used to say that I am prawn to . . .
U
The ready made dough was okay but certainly did not taste like authentic pizza crust. You are right I should give homemade pizza dough a try next time - about twenty five years from now. You are what you eat...Does that make you one of Cro Magnon's quinces?
DeleteU is right, you knead to make your own dough. An occasional Saturday night treat in this household when we eat pizza and drink red wine sitting on the sofa and watching Netflix.
ReplyDeleteYou don't sit at the dining table? How slovenly!
DeleteI wouldn't want pizza every day (or every week), but I like it well enough - hardly surprising, considering that I was part of a Sicilian family for 10 years. Also, I know how to make a good one from scratch (also hardly surprising, see above). Yours looks nice although I would have left the anchovies out and put the cheese on last. What did you have for dessert?
ReplyDeleteI had an apple picked from our garden!
DeleteP.S. You don't look Sicilian!
I'm quite partial to a pizza every now and then. My favourites are Hawaian (ham and pineapple) or Florentine (spinach and egg). But then again I like Yorkshire Pud too.
ReplyDeleteThey all have fancy tastes down in that there London.
DeleteI am glad you added the anchovies, I love that flare of salt. But pizza is not a favourite though easily assembled, especially the dough;) I see your son and friend are really breaking out into the world of commerce - congratulations to both.
ReplyDeleteTheir "Bosh!" Rocky Road slices will soon be on sale in all branches of Costa Coffee. Quite a coup really. Thanks Thelma.
DeleteNot a great fan of pizza either, but one of the eateries I go to does an amazing seafood pizza. Fresh ingredients (including smoked salmon) and it has a very a very thin crust which I think may be the secret - nothing worse than soggy, chewy, dough. Recently I bought a packet of thin Pizza dough, and have wondered what topping to use, so you've given me some idea, though it will really depend on what I find in the fridge!
ReplyDeleteDon't put a mouldy old sausage on it CG nor a shrivelled half lemon!
DeleteYorkshire Pudding flavoured pizza would be good to try. We make curry pizza, onion pizza and Marguerite pizzas...
ReplyDeleteMmmm...Yorkshire Pudding flavoured pizza. Like the union of a certain Yorkshire schoolteacher with Gina Lollobrigida when she was young and in her prime.
DeleteShe was gorgeous wasn't she? Do you remember Gina by The Salford Jets? It's on good old You Tube.
ReplyDeleteI will seek it out. Is it now sexist to say that a woman was "gorgeous"? You gotta watch your step these days Dave!
DeleteI like pizza OK, but like you it's not something I'd make a big fuss over. Yours came out looking great, at least in its raw state!
ReplyDeleteIt was better in its cooked form and tasted fine but if I never had another pizza in my life I'd be fine with that.
DeleteI do like pizzas so long as they have a thin base and are full of flavour. Yours looks tasty.
ReplyDeleteOften there's just too much dough. Maybe they could do away with the dough and just serve the toppings.
DeleteOh, Mr. P.! If you tried one of my pizzas, you would never say you din't like pizza again.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe not.
It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I can take them or leave them. I guess your maiden name was Italian. Maria Mancini di Napolitano - something like that.
DeleteMaria Luna, if you please.
DeleteI personally do not like pizza but Tom loves it, so I indulge him now and again to stop him getting his stick out. (wooden stick) lol
ReplyDeleteBriony
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Is this a cry for help Briony? I have heard about husbands who secretly beat their wives. You poor thing!
Delete