Juicy, red tomatoes top this homemade (by wonderful husband) Pizza Margherita.  He found a really and truly –no fail– recipe for quick pizza crust (…think good old Chef Boyardee homemade pizza kits.)  HINT:  Make up dough on parchment paper, cut to the size of the pizza stone, so that it can easily be transeferred onto the stone once the pizza is made. 

Homemade Pizza Margherita

PERFECT PIZZA DOUGH: 
3 cups all-purpose flour (3 - 3 1/2 cups)
1 package Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup very wram water (125 - 130 degrees)
2 Tbsps olive or vegetable oil

1.  In large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, undissoved yeast and salt.  Stir very warm water and olive oil into dry ingredients.  Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough.  Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes.  Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

2.  On lightly floured surface, form dough into smooth ball.  (If desired, freeze dough in balls sealed in freezer bag.)  We like our crusts very thin, so we divide dough in half for 2 large pizzas.  Once you have your crust divided, roll onto parchment which was pre-cut to size of pizza stone.  Top with anything you like.** 

3.  Bake each pizza in preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until done.  Time depends on size and thickness of crust and selected toppings; deep dish pizzas can take up to 50 minutes.

**For our Pizza Margherita we used thinly sliced tomatoes placed evenly around crust.  Sprinkle coarse salt, cracked pepper, fresh oregano, fresh thyme, and parmesan cheese over tomatoes.  Lay thinly sliced buffalo mozzarella alternately around tomatoes.  Bake until pizza crust and cheese is golden brown.  Once pizza is out of oven, sprinkle julienned fresh basil over top of pizza. 

Is there anything that says “comfort food” like a freshly made and baked apple pie?  If there is, I don’t know what it would be.  My last effort at baking an apple pie turned out so well that I thought I would share some pictures from the process.  (Click here for my perfect apple pie recipe.) 

Pie baking is a lovely process, made even more so by using my beautiful Royal Worcester Evesham 9 inch pie dish.  It seems a shame to cover the beautiful artwork, but what a delight it is to see it reappear as the pie is served!  It was a wedding gift from a lovely lady who worked as a teacher on a naval base in England.  It’s one of those things that I treasure, and I do so enjoy using it.

If you have checked my recipe, you will note that I ”cheat” a little.  I love the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts for this recipe.  This shortens the assembly process quite a bit, but if you take care with the other steps you will still come out with a marvelous and completely homemade-looking pie.

I only use Granny Smith apples for this recipe because their tartness and consistency are perfect when combined with the spices and sugar.  I peel and core about four large apples, and then slice them as thinly as I can into a large bowl.  Then I sprinkle the other ingredients over the apples and gently turn them to coat evenly.  After this, I take one of the piecrusts out of the box and lay it gently over the pie dish.  Then with the back of my knuckles I press it gently into the pie dish until it conforms.  Once I have done this, it’s time to lay the apples into the crust.   Taking the second crust, I center it on top of the apples.  At this point, there will be some crust hanging over the edge which I trim with a knife.   Then I begin the process of folding the edge of the top crust under the bottom crust.

Once I have it tucked under all the way around, then I can begin the process of crimping.  I do this by placing one finger below the crust and one on top and then pressing gently to make an indentation.  This makes a lovely fluted look all the way around and lends to the homemade flair of the pie.  After I have finished crimping, it is time to begin making the decoration for the top of the pie.  I do this by taking the trimmings left over and rolling them into a ball.  Mashing the ball flat between two pieces of waxed paper gets it ready for forming leaves. 

Next, I take a sharp knife and cut five or six leaves (if I have enough scraps left!) from the dough.  And with any remaining dough I make small balls (berries!) to nestle in the midst of the leaves.  I then take my knife and run it lightly down the center of each leaf, making a line for the center vein.  Then I make small lines on either side of the center vein for the smaller veins.  These little touches add up to great dividends once the pie is baked.  Lastly, I poke a few holes around the leaves with the tip of my knife to allow steam to escape while the pie is baking.

And now for the result of this lovely process…

Wish you could smell the cinnamon and nutmeg!   M m m m m m …