What I am about to share with you will change your life. If you don’t ever read anything I write-JUST READ THIS.
San Marzano tomatoes. They are expensive and you may have to drive a few extra miles to get them. But please believe me when I tell you-they are worth it.
San Marzano tomatoes are considered by most chefs to be the best sauce tomatoes in the world. The world. Legend says that the first San Marzono seed was a gift from the Kingdom of Peru to the Kingdom of Naples in 1770. That seed was supposedly planted in what is now San Marzano-- in volcanic soil-- in the shadow of Mt Vesuvius. The volcanic soil is believed to act as a filter for water impurities. The flesh of these tomatoes are much thicker than plum tomatoes, but they are shaped like plum tomatoes. They are less acidic and they are almost sweet. Some people compare the taste of these tomatoes to fine chocolate. I was so excited to find them at Kroger in Englewood-I have never seen them at another Kroger! They were in the international aisle next to all the expensive imported stuff! One can of these tomatoes cost about $ 4.75. You may not think that is a lot, but compared to other tomatoes selling for $ 1.50 it is. I use San Marzano when I am making pasta sauce, pizza sauce, salsa or basically any recipe that calls for tomatoes.
Jason made some pizza dough and I topped it with San Marzanos that I pureed in the food processor, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella. I like my pizza plain like that-Jason likes to pile stuff on his. He especially likes the Boars Head pepperoni that you can get in the deli and he likes loads of black olives. Whatever floats his boat.
Here is Jason pizza crust recipe; it is very simple and so very good:
2 CUPS FLOUR
1 TABLESPOON SALT
1 TABLESPOON SUGAR
¾ CUP WARM WATER
1 ENVELOPE YEAST
3 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Combine flour, salt and sugar. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the yeast mixture and olive oil. Knead all ingredients until the dough has a good consistency. Put the dough in a well oiled large bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let the dough rise for 1 hour. After one hour it should have doubled in size, punch it down and let it rise again for 30 minutes. Then roll out into desired shape on a lightly floured surface. Look how this man puts his elbow in it:
The above is a picture of the unbaked pizza-is that a KitchenAid stone you ask? Why yes it is. As you can tell, Jason is pretty "free" with his flour-it's everywhere. And yes, the pepperoni is the size of coasters.You can shape the dough however you like, square, round deep dish…it’s up to you. Pile on the toppings of your choice and bake at 425 until the crust turns a light golden brown.
Sunday night pizza is my favorite! It’s the one of the few times I don’t make everyone sit around the table and we all veg out in front TV on the couch.
