Pizza - the Rest of the Story

While enjoying the smoked salmon pizza, we stretched out the other 3 disks of dough into less regular shapes than the first. We wanted to get away from a store-bought look.

The first choice was simple: pesto. Spread on the basil from the jar we made last summer, add chopped garlic, season with salt and pepper then top with shredded cheese. A drizzle of olive oil made it just right.

The second pizza was very traditional too. Seasoned tomato sauce spread on then topped with pitted oil-cured olives. Then came some crushed red pepper flakes and topped with cheese. Olive oil was added all around the edge.

Now was the last one. This time a touch of olive oil was spread on the dough and then came the cheese – a nice firm layer. Then it was seasoned with salt and red pepper flakes. Slices of the Campari tomatoes had been salted and drained already. That removes extra moisture. They were laid on top and fennel seeds sprinkled on. Then came the olive oil.

Now it was time to bake these fellows so that feast could begin. A pizza peel comes in handy at a time like this. Toss a little corn meal on the thin wooden paddle, add one pizza and slide it on the hot stone. Then proceed to numbers 2 and 3.

Bake until bubbling and beginning to color. Then you use the peel to remove each pizza and place them on a cutting board to settle. You want to let the ingredients get together before cutting.

OK the now it was time for the Foodtasmic test. Get a slice of each on a plate and how our creations stacked up. Do they look tempting? Does the smell make you hungry? What about when you take that first bite?

Ours passed all those tests. Looked great. Smelled just as good. And the taste of each was outstanding. The variety made for an even better experience. It was much better than putting all those things on one larger pizza.

Try something like this a try sometime. Maybe plan ahead better than we did and check the fridge sooner. Decide on a few toppings and make a variety of smaller pizzas. You can even make a party around it and the guests can make their own and share around. Get the bases ready for them and go for it. Don’t forget you will need to time it for oven space.

Give a pizza festival a fling. You will have lots of fun and good eats. Foodtasmic sure did.