Lovin' Pizza!

Tom and I love to make homemade pizza as a quick weeknight dinner. It's fairly quick, extremely tasty, and provides us with awesome lunches for the next day.

On Sunday I made two batches of pizza dough that will create four delicious pizzas for us, using the recipe from Baking Illustrated. I wish I used this book more than I do because it is phenomenal.

I love how a bowl full of dough can go from this.....

To this...... In only 1.5 hours!

I let the dough sit for about 10 minutes before either using it.....

....or packing it up into single-pizza sizes to freeze. They're wrapped with plastic wrap and then popped into a freezer bag. It's so helpful for those weeknight - quick dinners. As long as we remember to take it out of the freezer before we go to work. 

Tom thought I was crazy to purchase a package of Vermont Smoked Pepperoni before we left, but I am soooo thankful I did. I love their pepperoni on our pizza. We usually make pizza's with what we have around the kitchen. The normal: onions, garlic, green pepper, basil, pepperoni, and of course - cheese! Mozzarella, Cabot Extra Sharp, Parmesan, and Provolone!

Even after making pizza for the last few years, we have yet to purchase a pizza stone. Guess what will be added to our "New-Apartment Shopping List"? 

It's been quite interesting the last two weeks to be at home so much. I am applying for teaching jobs in the area during the day, and by 5pm I'm whipping up something to eat for dinner. I'm not quite used to having this amount of time off, but it is nice to have a few hours to plan a meal, go shopping for it, and to actually cook it. I know for now I need to enjoy this freedom. So for the moment, I imagine we'll be putting the pizzas aside as I try out some new recipes!