Homemade Pizza Crust with Heart Pepperoni

This is one of my favorite Valentine's meals I have ever made. For many years our tradition was to make spaghetti and meatballs and watch the Lady and the Tramp... aka the most romantical movie of all time. But this year I decided to change it up, and I must say, I met with great results. Now, a homemade crust is important, but it does take time to rise, so be patient, or make it the night before and put it in the fridge. This is a mixture/adaption from both Mario Batali's recipe and Bobby Flay's recipe. For the toppings, we made three, a pepperoni pizza pictured above, a margarita with tomatoes, fresh moz, and basil, and a Mexican pizza with taco meat, salsa, guac, sour cream and other toppings. 

What you need: 

1 cup of warm water

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 Tablespoon of yeast (1 package)

4 cups of flour

3 Tablespoons of olive oil 

Pizza Sauce and Toppings 

What you do:

1. Mix the warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit and get bubbly to make sure that your yeast is still alive. 
2. Add to your standing mixer fitted with the paddle. Add flour one cup at a time until incorporated.  Add the oil until achieve a dough that pulls away from the sides. Switch your paddle to the dough hook and let the dough be kneaded for 5 minutes. Cover with olive oil and plastic wrap to rest until doubled in size about an hour. 
3. Preheat your oven to 500. If you have a pizza stone let it heat up as well inside the oven. 
4. Divide the dough and roll out to the desired size. This dough will make 3 medium size pizzas or 2 large pizzas. You can also store half in the freezer if you like. 
5. Roll to your desired thickness, my family likes a thin crust. 
6. Top, and cook in your oven for 10 minutes or until the bottom is cooked and toppings are warmed through and the cheese is melted. 

Enjoy. 

All the best, Happy Valentine's Day, many blessings, much love, and Happy Pizza Making!

Pepperoni Bread

This was my first attempt at making a Pepperoni bread from scratch. It was surprisingly easy and delicious. The pepperoni has a enough delicious juices to flavor the bread and create layers like a croissant.

Here was my go... I also made a quick and easy 10 minute marinara, which recipe also follows.

What you need:
2 cups of all purpose flour (bread flour if you have it, I did not)
1/2 cup of warm water
1 Tablespoon of yeast
1 Tablespoon of sugar
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
8 oz of sliced pepperoni
8 oz of grated mozzarella cheese
1 egg
10 minute marinara sauce to dip

What you do:
1. Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water in a glass and let stand for 5 minutes or so.
2. Add the flour to your mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook. Add the water and let the dough hook incorporate the ingredients.
3. After a minute or so add the olive oil, salt, and Italian seasoning.
4. Allow the dough to form and knead for at least 5 minutes.
5. Take the dough out of the bowl. Wash the bowl, and add a small amount of oil. Place a plastic cling film over the top and allow the dough to raise for an hour or so.
6. Once ready to make your pepperoni roll, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Spread out the dough in a rough rectangular shape. Spread out the mozzarella and pepperoni.
8. Roll the dough up and place seem side down on a parchment lined baking sheet.
9. Mix up one egg and a little bit of water and brush over the loaf.
10. Bake for 30 minutes or so, until the bread is completely done, use a skewer to ensure the dough is completely cooked through.
11. Serve with marinara, Chianti, and green salad.    

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy baking!