Margarita Pizza and Milan

Home-made pizza hits the spot every time. Especially if you’re a once-per-week dairy eater…

I’m doing this post a little backwards because I really had this pizza in Rome, not Milan. I actually didn’t like Milan much at all. If you followed me during my travels you already know that. If not, you can read my very disgruntled post here.

I know I vowed to cook a meal from each city I visited, but I just couldn’t grasp the idea of reliving my experience there – so I’m pretending that I ate this pizza in Milan and not Rome. Anyway, the pizza actually turned out fantastic. It had so much flavor and the cheese was super creamy. I think it even made me associate a new memory with Milan, a good one. Oh the joy of food…

Ingredients for dough: 

• 1 c hot water
• 1 T sugar
• 2 1/4 t active dry yeast
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 t salt
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1 T cornmeal (optional)

Pizza ingredients:

• 1 c crushed tomatoes, drained
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 c basil leaves
• 1 container of mozzarella, or buffalo mozzarella cut into thin slices
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• Olive oil
• Red pepper flakes
• Parsley

Directions: 

• Combine water, yeast and sugar in a large bowl, stir until dissolved
• Add olive oil and salt
• Mix in flour, knead
• Let stand for 15 minutes
• Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
• Put dough in pizza pan and spread using hands
• Sprinkle crust with cornmeal if desired
• Add crushed tomatoes, garlic and herbs to dough (be sure your tomatoes are drained)
• Add slices of mozzarella to pizza (pat them dry a little to get rid of water)
• Sprinkle a little extra shredded mozzarella and parmesan on pizza
• Add basil leaves and red pepper flakes
• Cook for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown
• Enjoy!

Up top I mentioned that I only eat dairy once a week. I guess I should give a little background to this?

I was a vegan for most of 2012. Dairy just didn’t sit well with my system and I wanted to lose a little weight so I gave it a try. For the most part it was actually very easy, besides when I went out for meals with friends – that was always hard. Combined with some time at the gym it also helped me drop about 10 pounds.

I really had my heart set on making some meals from my travels through Europe this year, so I decided that my once a week blog would be my once a week exception.