Pizza is on the menu quite often in our household as it is a favorite as it probably is in most households.  The Pizza resaturants probably don’t like us too well, because most of the pizza that is eaten in our home is made in our home, thus not providing business for the take-out places.  But we do provide business for the markets and Italian Deli where our ingredients are purchased.  This week’s pizza was made with sun-dired and fresh tomatoes instead of the usual canned crushed tomatoes that I use most frequently.  The dough was made mid-afternoon and left to raise up for about an hour and a half.  The raising time depends on the heat of the day and the quality of the yeast used.  The Pizza was baked on the Pizza Stone which I keep in my bottom oven.  About 45 minutes before baking the Pizza, I turned the oven on to 500 degrees to heat up the stone.

The pizza I made for dinner this evening was made as follows:

• Dough was made  mid-afternoon in my food processor with the plastic dough blade.

(For Pizza Dough Recipe see the Recipe section under Baked Goods/Breadhttps://www.sylveeeskitchen.com/recipes/baked-goods/breads/pizza-dough/

• Dough was placed in a greased bowl and  left to raise up for about an hour and a half.
• Vegetables and herbs were washed and put in a colander to drain.
• Fresh Tomatoes from the garden were seeded and sliced into strips.
• Sliced the Mushrooms by hand this time and cooked in hot olive oil with about 1/2 tsp. of Hawiaan Sea Salt and 3 whole cloves of Garlic.
• Red Bell Peppers were also sliced by hand and sliced Olives were left over from another meal.
• The Mozzarella was shredded.
• Shaped the Dough on a Pizza Peel.  (Note – it is not always easy to get a large pizza off the peel and onto the stone without distorting it.  There are pizza screen available which are to be used on the stone.  Just put the screen on your peel, spray with a vegetable spray and sprinkle some cornmeal on it.  It will slide easily off the peel onto the stone)
• If  using the stone without the peel, sprinkle cornmeal directly onto the stone just before sliding your pizza onto it.
• Used not quite half a cup of sun-dried Tomatoes packed in Olive Oil and minced these in my the Food Processor.
• Minced the herbs (basil and oregano) in the food processor with Parmesan Cheese.
• Spread the Sun-Dried Tomatoes over the Dough.

•  Spread the combined  herbs over the Sun-Dired Tomatoes.

• Added the shredded Mozzarella and then some Pepperoni slices.
• The cooked Mushrooms went over the Pepperoni.
• Baked for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 500 degrees and then added the remaining vegetables.  This prevents too much liquid from leaching out of the vegetables and making your pizza soggy.
• Baked for an additional 5 minutes, removed from the oven and allowed the pizza to set for 5 minutes.
• Transferred to the peel and brought to the table. Dinner is ready!