Saturday, July 30, 2011

Too Hot to Cook???

Remember those long, hot summers as a child???  I do!!!  As most Italian families in our neighborhood.....we had a kitchen in the basement, with those slanted cellar doors to the outside.......we had our old wood burning/gas stove down there along with old kitchen tables and chairs, nothing fancy, but clean and cool.....my mom cooked every meal no matter the temperature!!!  We never went out to eat!!!  All the messy cooking got done there and all the canning and preserving too.......we dined on fresh garden produce and enjoyed the breezes coming in from the open doors......and we had pizza on Friday nights.....So tonight, to celebrate summer, I made homemade pizza from scratch just like my mom did....no, not in the basement, turned up the AC in order to have the oven on!!!

I made the dough using 3 cups of flour, 1 cup warm water with one envelope yeast dissolved in it and 1 teaspoon sugar too.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil with flour....mix and knead till smooth and elastic, put in oiled bowl to rise and oil the top of the dough then cover.

Meanwhile I peeled about 6 large ripe tomatoes, cut in half and put cut side down in colander to drain, I even squeeze more water out of them and some seeds too.  Chop tomatoes and place in bowl, add chopped parsley, basil, garlic, salt and pepper.

By now the dough has risen.....spread it out in a jelly roll pan and in a 9 x 9 pan,cover and let rise again.  Heat oven to 500 degrees, when heated put in pans and cook for 10 minutes in upper third of oven.  Remove from oven and with slotted spoon, spread tomatoe mixture over dough, drizzle with olive oil, add a bit of oregano, sprinkle with grated cheese......put back in oven for another 15 minutes....oh, yum!!!













Of course I had to have a fresh salad and a hamburger too.....washed down with a cold beer.......perfect for hot summer meal!!!

13 comments:

Lynn said...

Looks like a great dinner! Love homemade pizza:@)

Nellie's Cozy Place said...

Oh My, that pizza truly looks delectable! I am not good with dough
I have to admit, but I have made something similiar on flatout bread
and it was great, but know that homemade pizza dough must be out of this world.
Thanks for sharing it!!

Blessings, Nellie

Ann@A Sentimental Life said...

now that is real homemade! Looks wonderful!

The Artful Diva said...

Summer kitchen in the basement - how cool! My mouth is watering - your pictures and recipes are fabulous! Thanks for sharing.

Gina said...

Ok, I'll be right over! That looks too delicious for words.

I love that you brought up the kitchen in the basement. We didn't have one when I was growing up, but my husband & I almost bought a house that had one in it. I was lovestruck by that basement kitchen!

Debbie said...

I have never once made homemade pizza. I know I should be ashamed to admit that. Yours looks really delicious!

And I sure would love a cellar/summer kitchen around here!

www.designgivesback.com said...

Wow, oh wow! Your dinner is making me hungry. What superb skills you have on pizza making, looks delicious! Thanks for sharing! I hope you can join me for the Design Gives Back blog party for the Miracle Makeover reveal the week of August 12th-18th for a story to warm your heart! HPS!-Sher

Anonymous said...

Oh, my goodness! This looks so delicious! Tomatoes are so good now!
be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

This looks sooooooo good. I wish I was there for dinner. Fabulous. Thanks so much for joining TTT. HUgs, Marty

Anonymous said...

Yum! You're good. I've never made a pizza from scratch! Yours looks so good! Love the story about your mom cooking meals in the basement!
Thanks for popping in to see me.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi Cleo! Well, you've still got my mouth watering for some of that delicious looking homemade pizza!
Thanks for popping in to see my new man!
be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Decor To Adore said...

Oh yum! You are making my mouth water!

janice15 said...

Humm, Mom and I have often talked about kichen's in the basements and we talked about how smart it was...I have know too great Italian women in my life one was my second Mom who husband was a fisherman so a lot of sea food was cooked. I can't remember what part they came from. And the other woman was a sweet loving older woman who touched my life. she spoke no English maybe five words. But when I was pregnant with my first child she waited everyday for the baby to come..she invited me to her house many times to have coffee. She had a beautiful garden and made all her own sauces and her tomato sauce was a sweet hot taste so yummy. She also made this cake with Swiss Chard put it was so good I never learned how to..Your pizza is almost like foccasia. I'm surely going to make this..thank you for sharing lovely blog. happy wednesday Janice.