Dough/Sauce
1 Pizza Dough (either store-bought pre-made, like at Trader Joe's, or make your own)
Enough pizza sauce to cover the dough (I like Contadina)
2 - 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
basil
oregano
dried onion
garlic powder
Toppings
about 12 oz. of fresh mozzarella
1.5 cups of curly kale
about 7 button white mushrooms
pepperoni (you can buy it in bags, of which you'll only use less than half probably)
parmesan
feta and/or goat's milk gouda (optional)
Now, we were lazy and bought Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, pre-prepared. It's $1.09 round these parts (it used to be 99c! The horror!), but if you're interested I do have an excellent, extremely fool-proof pizza dough recipe that I will post at a later date. If you need to know it now, just post a comment, and I would be more than happy to share it with you.
In the entries to come, I will be working on photo quality immensely. I actually am a pretty decent photographer, and I have a high quality camera, I just tend to take pictures while I'm cooking and already in a hurry, which makes it all the more rushed. I need to slow down in the kitchen, as well as in the rest of my goddamn life.
I took the above picture to illustrate what a small space we are working with here, people! The key is putting things above cupboards/in cupboards when you don't need them, instead of letting them sit out. It's less visually appealing to have to pull a coffee maker out of a cupboard than to have it sit on an open counter, but hey you have a tiny kitchen and you can't be picky. Please notice my cute honey pot with a bee-hive shaped dipper.
The majority of the ingredients! Pepperoni, pizza sauce, fresh mozzarella, and feta. We also added kale and mushrooms as toppings on my half.
A word on kale: it is wonderful. I've been experimenting more with greens lately, and have fallen in love with kale of all sorts. It's best steamed, or baked on top of a pizza all crispy and nutty, or sauteéd with garlic and onion. It can do no wrong: it tastes earthy and wholesome, it's full of anti-oxidants, Vitamins, C, A, & K, and it helps with digestion -- add it to your diet, now!
The garlic that we got at the farmer's market from the all-knowing garlic woman. The white (on the right) kind is called "Chamiskuri" garlic. It's a medium-pungent garlic, but we haven't tried it yet. The purplish (on the left) kind is called Chesnok Red, which is originally from the Republic of Georgia, and is a hardneck, purple stripe variety and I've read in numerous places that it is one of the best varieties of garlic for cooking with (I have a bad habit of ending sentences with prepositions -- you can't take the Midwest out of the English major!). I can confirm that it is delicious.
My cornucopia of fruits & vegetables.
We had peaches for dessert.
To contribute to the autumnal atmosphere, I did what anyone who wishes they had a fireplace would do: buy fake ass fireplace candles. I might have even bought the DVD that plays the image and sounds of a crackling fireplace on repeat, but I didn't have the foresight.
I wish I would've better documented my steps (lesson learned for next time).
Anyway, the first step is as follows: Roll out your pizza dough, and rub it down with olive oil. Rub it like you rub yourself with sun screen: thoroughly, getting all the creases and folds. Then, rub your chopped garlic into the crust, and sprinkle its entirety with spices of your choice (my favorite are basil, dried onion, garlic powder, oregano, and chili powder). Then, add the sauce. Then, the mozzarella. Now, Mr. Cheap likes feta on his half, and I like goat cheese on my half, so we sprinkle accordingly for a little extra pungent cheese action (which is always welcome on pizza!).
Also, if you do not have a pizza pan, use a cookie sheet and have a square pizza. If you do not have cookie sheets, use a casserole dish. It all tastes the same; namely, delicious.
Then, drink some wine.
The goat's milk gouda I speak of -- mind-blowing! I like to eat it as a snack on a really hearty cracker, something with nuts and flax and that earthy, oat-y taste to it. If you like goat cheese, expand your horizons and try "goat's milk" varieties of your favorite cow's milk cheeses (because that is what I am doing right now, too, and you should all copy my every move).
Here is the pizza after we have added all of the toppings: mushrooms, pepperoni, and curly kale (just freshly chopped and thrown on top). Then (not pictured) we sprinkled a little more basil, lots of parmesan, and our respective "extra" cheeses on each half.
Bake at 350 degrees F, for 13 -- 15 minutes. ENJOY!!
Next up: Vegetarian Tacos, with Corn, Caramelized Onions, & Refried Beans!
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