Hello my Foodie Friends!
When I was a young child, I would often get asked what my favorite food was. I always answered “pizza.” I grew up in the New Haven area of Connecticut and was raised with not only some of the best pizza places but also with a mother and aunts who made their own pizza. Needless to say, I became a “pizza snob” being very particular about my pizza sauces, cheese, and crust. Each of us likes our pizza a certain way. Perhaps only slightly less important than how you eat your pizza is how you talk about it. What do you call it: “Plain or cheese? Piece or slice?”
Speaking of slices, in New York City you can say, “I’m getting a slice,” and people will know what you’re talking about. However, elsewhere “piece of pizza” is preferred, and if you say “slice,” you’ll need to qualify it with “of pizza.” Is it a “pie or a pizza”? Do we go to a pizza parlor, pizza shop, or a pizzeria?
I was raised saying “APIZZA.” Perhaps less well-known, although no less delicious, is New Haven-style pizza, known in local vernacular as apizza. New Haven-style is thin like New York pizza, but if you walk into an apizza parlor and order a “plain,” you’ll get one without “mootz,” or mozzarella .
There is a reason why pizza has so many iterations and found in almost every corner through the United States. Just about everyone in the world loves pizza. Pizza is life!
When we make homemade pizza, I typically cook the pizzas in the oven on my pizza stone. A pizza stone is a thick baking sheet made of stone. I put it in the oven while it preheats. Then, when the oven and the stone are hot, I place the pizza directly on the stone using a spatula or pizza peel. This isn’t a necessary step but it does change the texture of the crust. Essentially, preheating the stone gives the pizza a crispier crust. However, if you don’t have a pizza stone, you can preheat a regular metal baking sheet instead. Whatever you bake your pizza on, make sure to dust the surface with flour or cornmeal so it doesn’t stick. When using a pizza stone, the unglazed clay surface absorbs and distributes heat evenly, producing a crispy crust, but this is how to do it correctly
Homemade Pizza is a fun and delicious dinner. Your kids will love to make it and eat it! Even the pickiest eaters will find a pizza topping combo they love. You can make big pizzas for the whole family, or everyone can make their own personal pizza. Set out different sauces, cheeses, and toppings, and see what your family creates! It might be a little messy, but if it gets everyone in the kitchen cooking together, it is worth it!
Stop by downtown Saratoga Springs’ Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store. Get creative with your pizza and make lasting memories. Homemade Pizza gets the whole family involved while making dinner. Make your favorites like cheese, pepperoni, or Hawaiian, or make something completely unique. Sing, dance, play music really loud, and have fun eating your very own creation. Remember my Foodie Friends; “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”
Take Care, John & Paula