While enjoying the smoked salmon pizza, we stretched out the
other 3 disks of dough into less regular shapes than the first. We wanted to
get away from a store-bought look.
The first choice was simple: pesto. Spread on the basil from
the jar we made last summer, add chopped garlic, season with salt and pepper
then top with shredded cheese. A drizzle of olive oil made it just right.
The second pizza was very traditional too. Seasoned tomato
sauce spread on then topped with pitted oil-cured olives. Then came some
crushed red pepper flakes and topped with cheese. Olive oil was added all
around the edge.
Now was the last one. This time a touch of olive oil was
spread on the dough and then came the cheese – a nice firm layer. Then it was
seasoned with salt and red pepper flakes. Slices of the Campari tomatoes had
been salted and drained already. That removes extra moisture. They were laid on
top and fennel seeds sprinkled on. Then came the olive oil.
Now it was time to bake these fellows so that feast could
begin. A pizza peel comes in handy at a time like this. Toss a little corn meal
on the thin wooden paddle, add one pizza and slide it on the hot stone. Then
proceed to numbers 2 and 3.
Bake until bubbling and beginning to color. Then you use the
peel to remove each pizza and place them on a cutting board to settle. You want
to let the ingredients get together before cutting.
OK the now it was time for the Foodtasmic test. Get a slice
of each on a plate and how our creations stacked up. Do they look tempting?
Does the smell make you hungry? What about when you take that first bite?
Ours passed all those tests. Looked great. Smelled just as
good. And the taste of each was outstanding. The variety made for an even
better experience. It was much better than putting all those things on one
larger pizza.
Give a pizza festival a fling. You will have lots of fun and
good eats. Foodtasmic sure did.