Pizza Night

I think it's high time for another recipe. 

Here in Nolandia, we have Pizza + Wine Fridays. Why? Well, because pizza. And wine. Anyway, it's a fun meal that we make together and then eat and feel terrible about ourselves and then we make a blood pact to wake up on Saturday morning and workout. 

I come from a big Italian family, and so we ate a lot of pizza growing up. ( Although, I  do realize that basically if you are a human with a pulse you probably ate a lot of pizza, I'm just saying that I am Italian, so my pizza is obviously better than yours by default.) Sometimes we ordered in, but usually made at home. My uncle is like the king of pizza. We were always having family parties and each one was celebrated with his famous homemade pizza. He didn't have a dedicated pizza oven, but he like lined his entire oven with pizza stones and so they all come out like glorious pies of joy. 

For myself, I usually buy a crust instead of making it in the kitchen-aid as my father taught me. I usually go up to the pizza counter at whole foods and barter my unborn children in exchange for one of their house made Neapolitan-style crusts. I only buy fresh mozzarella, which I slice thinly. None of that shredded bullshit for me. 

Finally, the sauce. 

Pizza Sauce of the Gods:

one reg. size can of plain tomato sauce

slivers of garlic

2 tbsp butter

oregano

basil

salt + pepper

parmesan

Method:

Note: I don't give any amounts of ingredients beyond the butter and tomato sauce can. This is because I don't know what you like. I'm not sure, but I think our tastebuds are probably slightly different. Like, sorry, I know it's basically Italian blasphemy, but I really don't like garlic all that much. Yucky. So, yeah.

Anyway, 

-heat 1 tbsp of butter into liquid in small sauce pan, stirring in garlic. Cook just until garlic begins to turn translucent

-Add tomato sauce and shake in herbs. 

-Stir in other tbsp of butter and add parmesan shavings. 

-Cook just until flavors are blended and then add to crust.

Other note: Some people prefer olive oil. The butter I use is some kind of vegan butter, but I like the creaminess it adds to the sauce. Use oil oil if you like, but I always feel like the butter really steps up the flavors and feels less acidic in my stomach.

Some might tell you that good pasta sauce or pizza sauce should take "hours". But the message I got from my Italian grandmother when I asked her about that was, "phooey! You cook all the flavor outta the sauce!" So, there you have it. 

Anyway, pop in a movie (may I suggest a Harry Potter-athon? Mr. Nolandia and I are just finishing ours up) throw a pizza in the oven and pop open a bottle of juicy red wine. 

Here's to the weekend, (almost!)

xx