Pizza

Pizza is a baked pie of Italian origin consisting of a shallow bread-like crust covered with seasoned tomato sauce, cheese, and often other toppings such as sausage or olive. The world pizza is believed to be from an Old Italian word meaning "a point," which in turn became the Italian word "pizzicare," which means "to pinch" or "pluck."

The pizza could have been invented by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, or The Romans or anyone, in fact, who learned the secret of mixing flour with water and heating it on a hot stone. In one of its many forms, pizza has been a basic part of the Italian diet since the Stone Age. This earliest form of pizza was a crude bread that was baked beneath the stones of the fire. After cooking, it was seasoned with a variety of different toppings and used instead of plates and utensils to sop up broth or gravies. It is said that the idea of using bread as a plate came from the Greeks who ate flat round bread (plankuntos) baked with an assortment of toppings. It was eaten by the working man and his family because it was a thrifty and convenient food.

How to make pizza

1. You will need some warm water (not hot) and if you want you can add some milk. Then you should add the yeast. Mix them well with a large spoon.

2. Once all the yeast (hot water will kill the yeast) is liquid, you can start adding flour. Then mix it with a spoon. And press with a spoon.

3. Add some salt. Mix and spread the salt. Add some olive oil. Then start mixing again with the spoon. Now you can mix with your hands. Then you add more flour and mix.

4. Put the paste is a plastic container (which keeps the heat of the yeast in the paste) in a warm place without airflow and let is rest for a at least one hour and a half.

5. Take a little part of the paste and make two pancakes. Add a little bit of flour around. Put the pancakes on top of each other and press. Make a flat circle.

6. Put the pizza on a aluminium baking plate. Add some tomatosoup (or other tomato sauce) and spread out further with a spoon untill the hole pizza is covered. Don't put too much ingredients near the borders, as the pizzabottom will rise and might spill the ingredients over the border, so that they will burn on the baking pate.

7. Add spices: origano, tyme, ...

8. Add cheese on top. (Mozarella, and Parmezan on top; Gruy?re, ...).

9. Put the pizza in an preheated oven on a high temperature. It will take some minutes and then your pizza must be taken out of the oven.

Recipes

Vegetarian's Delight Pizza

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 (12 inch) pre-baked pizza crust
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 cup seasoned tomato sauce
* 1/2 cup sliced onion
* 1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
* 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped black olives
* 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place the pizza crust on a large cookie tray or pizza pan. Brush the crust evenly with olive oil. Spread tomato sauce over it with a spatula or back of a spoon. Sprinkle vegetables evenly over the sauce, and top with cheese.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cheese has melted and is bubbly. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before cutting.

Mango Cream Cheese Pizza

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 ready made pizza crust
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 (13.5 ounce) container fruit-flavored cream cheese
* 1 (26 ounce) jar mango slices, drained and chopped
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bake pizza crust according to package directions.
2. Brush crust with olive oil. Spread cream cheese over crust. Arrange chopped mango over the cream cheese, and sprinkle with nuts. Slice, and serve.

Grilled Zucchini Pizza

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 large zucchini
* 1/2 cup butter, melted
* 3 cloves crushed garlic
* 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
* 1/2 (14 ounce) can pizza sauce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Slice the Zucchini into thick rounds. Combine the melted butter and crushed garlic in a small bowl. set aside.
2. When the coals on your barbeque are almost burned down, lay your zucchini slices on the grill. Let cook for three minutes then turn over and brush the butter/garlic mixture on each slice. Cook for three more minutes and turn over again and brush the other side with the garlic and butter.
3. Cover the slices with pizza sauce and cheese and let cook until the cheese begins to melt.

Cheesy Pizza Dip

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 1/4 cups sour cream
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 1 cup pizza sauce
* 1/2 cup sliced green onions
* 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
* 2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium baking dish, mix the cream cheese, sour cream, oregano, red pepper flakes, pizza sauce, green onions, garlic, Cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese and red bell pepper.
3. Bake in the preheated oven 5 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly brown.

Pizza Without the Red Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 3 tablespoons minced garlic
* 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto
* 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 unbaked pizza crust
* 1 tomato, sliced
* 1 bunch fresh spinach, torn
* 1 sweet onion, sliced
* 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
* 1 (6 ounce) package feta cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven according to pizza crust package directions.
2. In a small bowl combine butter, olive oil, garlic, pesto, basil, oregano and Parmesan cheese. Spread mixture evenly on pizza crust.
3. Arrange tomato, spinach, onion and jalapeno on pizza. Top with crumbled feta cheese.
4. Bake according to pizza crust package directions.