Left: tomato sauce, mozzarella, provolone, spinach, hot peppers, green olives, artichokes and mushrooms. Right: garlic Alfredo, sun dried tomato, spinach and grilled chicken

It’s Pizza Week! Who doesn’t like pizza?

Jamie put up some great instructions for basic dough and sauce on the revolution recipe of the week page that we had a lot of fun trying out.

I’m going to keep going on this one for a little while and attempt pizza on the barbecue. I treated myself to a copy of The Complete License to Grill and it’s got me inspired. I love Rob Rainford, he’s so cheerful and always looks so excited about what he’s preparing. Chris Knight is actually the author of the book, but they’re a good pair. I’m having thoughts of apple wood smoked pulled pork on a crust brushed with garlic butter and barbecue sauce. Diced tomatoes, and maybe some sauteed peppers and onions… but, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I need to work on getting the crust to the edge of the pan.

This week was all about keeping it simple. Simple crust, simple sauce, simple toppings. Pizza is a great way to use up leftovers and veg that’s not looking so, um… “salad ready” anymore. I’m not saying use bad veg, but if your spinach is looking a little wilted, no one will be the wiser. This goes for sauce too. I enjoyed the simple tomato sauce, but my sweetie likes cream based sauces, in this case it was a garlic Alfredo. Not just tasty, but brings out the colours in your toppings beautifully.

I bought some foil pans for the project, but normally I would use my pizza stone. It’s one of my favourite pieces of kitchen equipment and I use it all the time, not just for pizza. I don’t know the science behind it, but a pizza stone does wonderful things for crusts. I actually found the foil dried it out a bit but the stone crusts stay nice and chewy on the inside.

Pizzas are a lot like holiday dinners. The hot meal is fantastic, but the leftovers for lunch the next day is what everyone really looks forward to.