All that I can much remember of being in my younger days about summer, is that I, for one, could not wait to finally get out of school, actually have time to play with my friends, and obviously, the chance to finally eat great food.
Most of the kids that I was friends with in grade school were all about the “school pizza boats”, and “the school lunch of the day”.
I remember having my very first pizza boat { which was basically this oddly shaped pizza that looked like a boat }, and right when I took my first bite, lets just say that the trash can was well…my best friend.
Ever since then, I never bought a single school lunch all the way through high school. I wasn’t even going to risk it, no matter what food they were offering that day, there was not a chance that I would be caught near any type of school food.
So thankfully when school was out, I didn’t have to worry about pizza boats, but instead, I always, always, always had the chance to look forward to my moms homemade pizza.
No, this wasn’t the type of pizza out of a box, actual homemade pizza.
One of my favorites that she would always made was “Tomato & Basil Pizza“.
If you’re not the best cook in the kitchen, this is super easy to make, and you don’t have to count your own calories.
Ingredients:
+ 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
+ 2 (8-ounce) pieces of homemade or purchased pizza dough, recipe follows
+ 6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
+ 1 1/3 cups, grated pasteurized mozzarella
+ 2 Roma tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
+ 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
+ 1 large garlic clove, minced
+ 6 fresh basil leaves, plus extra for garnish
+ 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
+ Mix warm water and yeast in a small bowl to blend together. Let this fully stand until the yeast dissolves for about 5 minutes.
+ Mix the flour and salt in a food processor to blend together. Blend in the oil and with the machine running, add the yeast mixture and blend them together just until the dough forms.
+ Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it’s smooth for about 1 minute.
+ Transfer the dough into a large oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl that you chose to use with plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm draft-free area until the dough doubles in a volume for literally about 1 hour.
+ As your next step, you want to punch the dough down and divide it into 2 equal balls. (The dough can be used immediately or stored airtight in the refrigerator for 1 day.)
+ Position 1 oven rack in the center and the second oven rack on the bottom of the oven and preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
+ Make sure that you sprinkle cornmeal over 2 rimless baking sheets and roll out each piece of pizza dough into a 10 to 11-inch-diameter round. Transfer 1 dough piece to each prepared baking sheet.
+ Drizzle 2 teaspoons of oil over each pizza dough and then you can sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the pizza dough itself, dividing equaling and leaving a 1-inch border around each pizza.
+ Arrange the tomato slices in a single layer over the cheese and sprinkle it with the Parmesan cheese.
+ Make sure that you arrange basil leaves on top of the pizza, and drizzle it with a little more olive oil and sprinkle garlic all over it.
+ Bake the pizzas until the crusts are crisp and brown on the bottom and the cheese is melted on top, for about 15 minutes.
+ Drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil over each pizza. Sprinkle with basil for garnish and salt.
+ You can then cut the pizza into wedges and serve immediately.
Happy E-a-t-i-n-g
