Pizza - Part 2

by Katt Kasper

Torn Between Two Loves

We met at this little Italian place downtown. When we were first introduced I wasn’t sure that we would hit it off, but to my surprise, after that first meal together I couldn’t get her out of my mind…

I had grown up with her older cousin and I enjoyed their similarities. Both were pleasurable, warm and inviting. Both were Italian-born and I had learned over the years that each could at times go from being bland and uninspired to rich, robust and addictive. That was always dependent upon where we would meet…

I was torn. Was it right to go from one to the other, day after day, year after year without paying a price for my indecision? But how could I choose? I loved them both so much. If only there was some way that I could combine the delicious comfort of my hot little Neapolitan delight with the classic, saucy, international flare of my first love.

But if I could, what would people think when they discovered that I’ve forced my two great loves to unite in front of me so that I might enjoy their desires at the same time? Would it be moral? Would it be proper? Could it ever really work?….

Aaah, the hell with it! Let’s do this thang!

Katt’s Two Love Spaghetti Pizza

(What did you think I was talking about?)

by Katt Kasper

It’s Getting Deep In Here: Sausage Mushroom Provolone-Mozzarella Pizza

We red-white-and-blue blooded Americans eat 3 billion pizzas a year, which breaks down to 350 slices a second or an average of 46 slices per person every 12 months. And 93% of us eat pizza a minimum of once a week which is the category that I fall into. Since my teenage years, on several occasions I’ve gone without booze or sex for weeks at a time but I seriously can’t remember not eating pizza at least once during a seven-day period. I just can’t do it! I’m jonesin’ now and I had pizza last night!

My pizza consumption has been a source of embarrassment for me since my high school days. I started out like my friends, just eating it on a recreational basis. Y’know, just a slice or two after a game. But before I knew it my dependence shot through the roof and I was ordering and consuming an entire large pizza by myself multiple times a week! I kept losing delivery jobs because customers would call and complain that their pizzas were showing up a slice short.

I’m much better now but whenever I eat pizza I still order an entire large pie for myself and down it all in one sitting. And of course I have a million pizza recipes. But this one produces the pie that I can only eat one slice of.

Now you can go all Sandra Lee and buy a pre-made crust and a can of spaghetti sauce if you just can’t make it though this entire process. Believe me, I’ve been there. But sauce is simple to make and it’ll give you something to do while you wait for the dough to proof, so tough it out if you can. Substitute and add where you see fit, and get the ice cubes ready; we both know that you’re gonna burn the roof of your mouth on the first piece so you might as well plan ahead. A couple of shots taken before the pie comes out will lessen the pain as well as help mask any culinary mistakes which you may have encountered. (I’m always watchin’ out for ya!)

Katt’s Deep Dish Pizza

in Cheese / Personal / Recipe 0 comments

by BS

Pizza Without Borders

At Endless Simmer we are not afraid to cross difficult international borders to answer burning questions like: how do they eat pizza in Cuba??! Yep, you can just call us the Edward Snowden of cheese.

The first time we saw signs for pizza in Havana, we thought: yeah, right, we’re not gonna eat Italian while in Cuba. But then we saw it again and again, and realized this makeshift style of pizza is actually the primary street food here. Tiring of the ubiquitous ham sandwich lunch options, we decided to give Cuban street food pizza a chance.

These simple pizza-style oven are set up on street corners across the country. The ‘za (tomato sauce and cheap cheese layered on a supremely puffy dough) is baked quickly in individual pans…

in Cheese / Food Travel 0 comments

by hungry monster

Putting it all on There: Cauliflower Crust Pizza with BBQ Shrimp and Veggies

I don’t think I had my head on straight when I grocery shopped this week. The fridge, freezer and pantry are stocked with the most random ingredients. It’s really working my culinary brain, that’s for sure.

Well, I decided I wanted to use certain things for last night’s dinner and this is what came out of it. Random, but packed with nutrients and deliciousness. I just simply couldn’t NOT share this with you!

This is a light option to satisfy pizza cravings without packing on the pounds, but I also made a Shrimp Poboy Pizza, if you want something a bit more indulgent.

BBQ Shrimp & Veggie Pizza with Cauliflower Crust

in Cheese / Recipe / Veggie 0 comments

by Miss K

Burns my Bacon: Unscratchable Itch

I love my food processor. In my opinion, it is one of thing things Every Kitchen Needs. My food processor is of the 9-cup Kitchenaid variety, and I use it at least twice a week, for everything from peanut sauce to pizza dough. My life as a coleslaw maker was changed the day I first used the food processor to shred cabbage. The fact that I could come up with three food processor-related previous posts off the top of my head should tell you something about my love for this ten-ton appliance.

Why, then, if everything else about it is so great, did they make it so freaking hard to clean? Ugh. It’s seriously enough to make a girl consider mixing her pizza dough by hand.

Just kidding.

But barely.

in Rants & Raves 2 comments

by Miss K

The Recipe Cycle

Do you have recipe cycle? Mine goes something like this:

Step 1: Decide what I want to make. Sometimes my inspiration comes from a delicious restaurant meal, sometimes from someone else’s blog, sometimes from ingredients I have on hand. I have been known to consult my Pinterest board from time to time. If I don’t already have a recipe, I might poke around on the Internet until I find one or two that seem promising, or consult The Joy of Cooking.

Step 2: Execute. I would like to say that I follow the recipe exactly the first time through, but this would be a lie. I will say that I stick more closely to the recipe at first, but I am constantly making adjustments as I cook. I can’t help it.

Step 3: Collect feedback and, if positive, repeat step 2. After multiple successes, a recipe might make the cut into the family recipe binder. (What can I say? We like to rock it old school.)

Step 4: A precious few recipes make it into regular rotation, where I make them again and again until no recipe is necessary.

It may take months for a recipe to make it through the whole cycle, and many recipes don’t make it past step 2 or 3. The ones that do, though, have the potential to become legendary. Just ask anyone who has been to our house on Pizza Friday.

Homemade pizza dough

in Recipe 0 comments

by ES Guest

Super Snacks: Buffalo Wing Pizza

Decisions, decisions, decisions. They’re tough. Like, should I serve pizza or wings at the big game? Well, we’re here to solve at least that one for you.

Six-time world champion pizza chef (that’s a thing!) Bruno DiFabio is here to share the wonders of, yes….Buffalo wing pizza. BRING IT.

Bruno diFabio’s Buffalo Wing Pizza

in Cheese / Fowl / Holiday / Recipe 1 comments