Kavita's Kitchen: Pizza

Every time I ate pizza outside,I paid attention to the sauce along with the crust and barring 2 or 3 places I realized the pizza sauce mostly tasted the same everywhere,there was never any flavor that stood out for me. I wanted to change this,people always talk about the crust and mostly pay attention to either the topping or the crust ,but I feel a large part of how a pizza tastes lies in the sauce. Whether it is tomato sauce or pesto or anything else for that matter.

So for this sauce, I choose to chop the tomato's,and slow cooked them to a fine puree. Running tomato's in the food processor crushes the seeds which in turn alters the taste of the sauce,making it slightly bitter. This sauce I made turned out mildly spicy and I added little honey to combat that.So the outcome was a sweet and sour sauce with a tad bit of kick from the cayenne and some garlic powder and 1 crushed garlic clove along with the herbs. The sauce tasted incredible and the consistency was easy to spread on the thin pie without making the pie gooey. I rolled out the dough on a floured surface and then transferred this pie on the parchment paper,then spread the sauce and the toppings,so I could just slide the parchment paper onto the preheated stone in the oven. After the first couple minutes I removed the parchment paper from underneath the pizza and let the pizza cook directly on the pizza stone.

Make this sauce at home and add pizzaz to your pizza :)

Ingredients:
Can of diced tomatos( I used del monte's organic diced tomatos)
Garlic: 1 clove crushed
Garlic Powder: 1/4 tsp
Olive Oil: 1 tbsp or more if you want
pesto: 1 tsp
Caynenne Pepper: 1/2 tsp
Honey: 1 tsp
Black pepper: 1/4 tsp curshed
Sour Cream: 1 tsp
Basil: dried 1 tsp or 1 tbsp chopped if using fresh
Oregano: 1 tsp dried
Salt: to taste

Take a pan ,heat 1 tbsp olive oil and when hot add the crushed garlic.Saute it till it browns a little then add the rest of the ingredinets except sour cream. Cook till the tomatos turn into a fine puree and the sweet aroma from all the herbs and spices fills up your kitchen. Complete with a spoon of sour cream and fold it in to give it a nice rich creamy texture :) Spread it on the pizza pie or serve it with pasta,either way you are sure to love this :)

I had been hearing and reading rave reviews from Sally's and Pepe's Pizza fans. Yes- These are both very popular and apparently the oldest pizza places and they happen to be just 30 miles north of us in New Haven CT. We have friends in New Haven who have eaten at Sally's and so we decided we will go with them and try out the much talked about pizza's.

We were warned about the 1 hour minimum wait,and mind you- it was around this time, last year. The place is not very big but the line is , and sometimes the line stretches beyond the waiting booth which is enclosed but is again a tight corner and can barely fit in 10 -12 people at a time,so we braved the cold and stood out. In this case the long line gave me the much needed reassurance,and I could already tell by the long line, that this pizza experience was going to be similar to my pizza experience in Naples,Italy. Luckily the wait outside was not very long,as the people inside the waiting booth got seats and we moved inside,this was not all that bad,I was warm and I could now witness the waiters through the glass windows bring the pizzas out from the kitchen in the pie pans,and see the excited and hungry look on the peoples faces who were clearly very pleased to see their order arrive.

My curiosity had piqued and every time the door to the waiting booth opened I hoped the waiter would call out our name. Finally he took us in and seated us in a booth for 4, it was a nice cosy and comfy booth and we placed our order,I was told that not all their pizzas are on the menu,but their very popular fair is the potato mozzarella ,so we ordered one of that and a pepper mozzarella. I have to tell you-the pizza crust was super and the potato topping was exceptionally good with just a hint of rosemary , the best part about the crust was it retained its crisp texture till the last bite and the toppings did not weigh the crust down. I have to mention here that this pizza was sans red pizza sauce :) I was instantly transported to Naples where I had eaten pizza exactly the same way sans red pizza sauce. My expectations had by now crossed all boundaries and I could not wait to sink my teeth into this lovely crust I had been admiring for far too long from a distance;-)

This is a picture of Sally's Potato Pizza

I loved the pizza and was thinking about replicating the impossible at home(I knew I was being over ambitious) but I had to give it a try .To some extent I matched the topping bit, but the crust needs to be worked on. I am sharing my attempt at making Sally's in the regular oven ,you have to give this one a try if you are tired of eating the regular stuff which is called pizza here :( I admit the crust is not as good as it was at sally's Apizza but it is better than most I have tried so far at other pizza places .You will notice in the pictures that I have made a thin crust .

Oh and yes-What a perfect day for me to post this.The UCONN HUSKIES made history today by winning the 89th college basketball match against Florida.YAY!!!! Here's a popular CT pizza to celebrate this victory - Cheers!!!!

My Attempt at making sally's Pizza at home

From Kavita's Kitchen

Potato Pizza

Ingredients:
Active Dry Yeast: Small sachet( 8.75 gms)
Light Brown sugar: 1/2 tsp
warm water: 1 1/2 cup
salt: 1 tsp
Olive Oil: 2 tbsp
All Purpose Flour: 3 1/3 cup
Garlic: 2 cloves crushed
Chilli Flakes: to taste
Garlic Powder: 1 tsp
Oregano: 1/2 tsp
Basil: 1/2 tsp

Topping:
Grated Parmesan cheese: 4 tbsp
Pesto: 4 tbsp
Cheese: cheddar & mozzarella grated about 1/2 cup
Potato : thin slices of potato grilled

Note: I made thin slices out of 1 big potato and broiled them in an oven till they were cooked and later used them for topping.

Serves: 4 pizzas

Method:
Take a big bowl and add the warm water along with 1/2 tsp of brown sugar and open the yeast in this. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Add the oil and salt and mix in 2 cups of flour in this and start to knead this,keep adding the rest of the flour and at this point add the crushed garlic along with chilli flakes,oregano and basil .The dough should not be too sticky. Cover this with a damp cloth and keep it in warm place for the dough to rise and get double in size.

Pre-heat the oven at 500 degree f , I have used a Pizza stone here.

Now depending on the desired size of pizza,pull out a portion of the dough and roll it into a ball and use some corn meal on the counter or the board on which you will roll out the pizza. So that the dough is easy to work with. Please avoid the rolling pin and try to work with your fingers starting in the centre clock wise and keep stretching the pizza with your fingers as you move clock wise,I like to work with a tiny portion of the dough as I have not yet mastered the deftness with which people roll out the pizza bases with their hands and fingers. Once you have worked out a medium size pizza,spread this on a parchment paper and start to assemble the toppings.

I spread the grated Parmesan and drizzled about a tsp of olive oil on this. Then I layered the grilled potato slices and topped these with the grated cheddar & mozzarella cheese. I carefully slide this parchment paper with my hand mittens on ,onto the pizza stone and bring down the temperature to 450 degree f and cook the pizza for 10- 12 minutes or till the cheese starts to turn a golden brown. I will also use a spatula to check the bottom of the base,when I see it has a nice crust which takes a couple minutes more or less depending on the oven. I will pull it out.

For the second pizza I used some grated Parmesan and then layered it with pesto and then assembled the potato slices and completed it with grated cheddar & mozzarella.

For the third pizza ,I used the regular Pizza sauce,which was also made at home and used some vegetables for the topping along with grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese. The toppings I used for this pizza are-sweet peppers,broccoli & black olives.