Daring Bakers’ October Challenge

WooHoo! I could have done this with my eyes closed – not to brag. This was the ideal challenge for me since I bake pizza all the time. Plus, this gave me the opportunity to try a different method for preparing my dough. Perfect, BTW, for the “run-around-town-never-sit-down” person. Once you have the dough in the freezer, you have a quick meal for those crazy days that are bound to happen.

Despite the double-chin that is painfully obvious to me, this photo shows how fun this challenge truly was. My love photographed me laughing & you have to use your imagination to the kinds of jokes we were throwing at each other as I was throwing dough around.

The first pizza I made was a simple dough base with a brushing of EVOO, goat cheese, prosciutto & bosc pear. Obviously, the tossing of the dough doesn’t work for me, However, the taste was sublime. Mi corazon (my heart) fell in love with me all over again.

The second pizza was made with pesto, mozzarella & chicken. I made the pesto with lots of fresh basil leaves, 3 garlic cloves, 3/4 cup EVOO, ~1/4 cup pistachios – that’s all.

Overall, the family was quite impressed with the improvement I made with my pizza technique. Thank you Rosa (and Sher and Glenna ) for this amazingly satisfying challenge. I finally felt the urgency the buy a pizza stone ($9.99 at Target, not bad!) and that has made a world of difference. Everyone enjoyed their meal & there were no leftovers. In fact, it reminded us of our favorite pizza place Pizza Antica. Take a look at their menu for inspiration. Also, check out the other Daring Bakers for even more inspiration.