It's Not DiGiorno

I think we missed a week in there somewhere on the new recipe exploration with being gone so much, but last night we tried two new recipes... so I think we're back on track :)

We had pizza from scratch, which I have actually made before, so I'm not sure it qualifies as a totally new recipe, although the recipe for the crust was different, so I'm counting it. It is Bianco's Pizza Dough, the recipe of pizzaiolo Chris Bianco, whose pizzeria happens to be here in Phoenix. How I have never been there is a mystery to me but soon to be remedied. You can find this recipe in Martha Stewart's May '09 issue or on her website. I have to say that this recipe really made an enormous difference in the texture of the crust. My old recipe is going out with the garbage, because this can't be beat. And, I am excited to try it again sometime when I have more time to devote to it. It was pretty late when I started dinner and our tummies were grumbling, so I cut quite a few corners and didn't let it rise for nearly as long as I was supposed to. It still came out delicious though, and I'm sure if I followed the recipe to a T, it would just be heavenly. I topped it off with our usual toppings. I'm a die-hard fan of Classico's Tomato and Basil pasta sauce. I also used fresh mozzarella, which let me say, after buying the cheapest one, you really can taste the difference. I didn't think it would matter, but the texture was much more rubbery with this generic one than with the more expensive one I usually buy. For a rare occasion, it is worth it to spend a little extra to get the quality, especially if you're going to all the trouble to make good pizza dough. I then just topped off the pizza with sliced tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, dried oregano and rosemary. So delicious!

As a starter, while we were waiting for the pizza to bake, we had fried zucchini, which was actually the inspiration for the dinner theme last night. At church yesterday morning, I was chatting with the lovely Miss Madison, who was so kind as to share in great detail how she made fried zucchini with her grandmother. Let me tell you that this is one little lady who is on her way to being a great chef when she grows up. Thanks for the recipe missy! It was delicious.