The History of Pizza in Italian Food

Italian food is unique amongst world cuisines in that it has birthed not one, but two international sensations. Of course I'm talking about pasta and pizza. Pizza is one of the most widely eaten foods today. While most people think of pizza in America as Italian food, it really is not like the pizza of authentic Italian food. It is said that with one taste of pizza made in the style of authentic Italian food, you will never go back to the Americanized version. Even when eating at Italian food restaurants it is hard to capture the distinguished taste of true Italian pizza.

Pizza is one Italian food that has been around in one form or another for centuries. It has a long history in the Mediterranean where it began as a seasoned flatbread that was used more as an edible plate to hold other food, rather than as a food by itself. However, these earlier pizzas established a name for Italian food very early on and were eaten in Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Babylon and were emphatically praised by many historians of the day.

It was in the Middle Ages that pizza began to take a form that would be more familiar to Italian food lovers today. Pizza started out being just a dough topped with herbs and olive oil. Once mozzarella cheese began to be produced from Indian Water Buffalo it quickly became a signature aspect of pizza. Today at any true Italian food eatery this fresh mozzarella di buffalo is nonnegotiable. The dried shredded mozzarella that is often associated with Italian food would actually never be used on a pizza made by a true Italian food chef.

It wouldn't be until the tomato became popular in Italian food in the 18th century that we would see modern pizza. During this time pizza began to take an even more prominent role in Italian food. In Naples pizza was sold on the streets for every meal. This once peasant food was quickly taking hold of all of society, including the upper class. In fact, by 1830 the first ever pizzeria was opened in Naples. Ever since this time pizzerias have been found all over the world converting people to the love of Italian food.

Traditional Italian pizza is cooked in a wood fired oven. The reason American pizza is often not thought of as a true Italian food is because the large restaurant chains that specialize in pizza do not cook it in a wood fired oven. Pizzas featured in Italian food restaurants should use only the freshest ingredients. In Italy pizzas change with the seasons as new ingredients become available. The great thing about pizza that has made it so popular is the fact that it can be topped with a vast array of toppings. Each region of Italy has its own particular style of pizza that they specialize in, making use of the ingredients most readily available to them.

So for real Italian food pizza it is necessary to step out of the confining ideas of just a few types of pizza and open your mind to the different possibilities. Italian food is full of variety and you could literally spend a year in Italy just trying all the different styles of pizza that made Italian food so universally popular.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Free Delicious Mexican Pizza Ingredient

When it comes to preparing meals for your family, you may find that it is fun to get the kids involved. Sometimes, there are meals you will want to get the kids help with, and sometimes, you will want to be happy just letting them lick the proverbial spoon as you prepare the favorite dish. There are many reasons why allowing children to help in the kitchen is a good, healthy habit. One way you can get the little ones interested in what you are doing is to make some delicious, fun, and easy Mexican food.

Mexican pizza is a delicious favorite in my household. Everyone has a favorite way of preparing this delicious dish because it is just that popular. Take a look at this suggestion for a Mexican pizza! Please, feel free to alter to taste.

Ingredients Needed

> ½ cup corn meal

> ¼ cup canola oil, sunflower oil, or other vegetable oil

> 12 corn tortillas

> 2, 12 ounce cans of tomato sauce

> 2, 15 ounce cans of beans, Mexican style

> Fresh vegetables

> 4 cups of Mexican blended cheese or Monterey Jack cheese

> Salsa

> Sour cream

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees

2. Grease the bottom of a cookie sheet with oil. Sprinkle the greased cookie sheet with corn meal liberally.

3. Prepare the fruit and vegetables. Place each of the sliced and diced fruits or vegetables in a separate bowl. Please the bowls in a row on the table.

4. Open the tomato sauce cans, and pour into a large bowl. Add seasoning to taste. I like adding about half a packet of fajita seasoning to give the sauce a kick.

5. Place the cheese in a large bowl.

6. For each of the little preparers, get a plate and place a tortilla in the plate. With the preparer at the table, give him or her a plate. Give the child a spoon for the sauce, and sit back and watch the fun!

7. Once your little Picasso is done with their work of art, you can transfer the mini-pizzas to the cookie sheet. Generally the cookie sheet with fit 2 at a time, but you can use up to 2 cookie sheets at a time for this.

8. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the pizzas look delicious!

9. Give the little pizza to the child that made the pizza. Offer salsa and sour cream. Watch the smiles!

Easy Mexican food can be a reality and a lot of fun. This is a great activity for sleepovers or just for any weekend where you want a rainy day activity. Building healthy eating habits starts in the home. When your children get to experience the joys of cooking, they will carry that lesson on with them to adulthood.

Whether you make pizza, tortillas, enchiladas, or some other type of delectable foods with your young ones, you will find that the little bit of freedom they have today will serve them well tomorrow. Today it may be easy Mexican food, tomorrow the world!

Making Pizza Crust "Crispy"

From time to time the one thing that home pizza makers want to accomplish when baking pizza is a nice crispy, crunchy pizza crust.
It's quite difficult for a pizza lover to resist the crispy texture of flavorful pizza crust layered with a blend of savory toppings.
A common question asked by newbies and veteran home pizza makers alike, is simply this, "How can I make my pizza crust crispy"? Today is your lucky day because I'm going to give you a couple of ways to achieve crispier pizza crust.

One of the most important aspects of making good pizza at home relates to oven temperatures. Oven temperatures vary when using typical home ovens. Though some home pizza makers have access to brick ovens or more elaborate forms of home ovens, many pizza lovers do not. These types of ovens are fantastic for pizza baking but the typical conventional oven found in most home kitchens require a slightly different approach.
Generally, typical conventional ovens do not compare, in terms of temperature generation with commercial ovens found in professional pizza parlors. Don't worry pizza lovers, there's still hope for home pizza makers.
Due to the "temperature factor", there are a number of things you must consider when preparing your pizza dough and baking your pizza pies at home, especially if you want a pie that's delightfully crispy, crunchy and irresistible.
The first consideration is water content when mixing the pizza dough. If you use olive oil as a fundamental ingredient for your pizza dough, consider using slightly less olive oil and replace this with a little more warm water. Adding a little more water to your mix of pizza dough will contribute to a crispier and flaky crust.
In addition, it's a good idea to roll your dough to a "paper thin" thickness. You can do this by "rolling out" your pizza dough directly onto the pizza peel. Of course before doing this, sprinkle cornmeal on the pizza peel to insure an easy transfer to the baking surface you plan to use.
Next, you'll want to use one of two techniques for baking your pizza to make sure your completed pizza boasts that delicious crispy pizza crust that we all crave. You'll want to choose a suitable "baking platform" or "baking surface".
Try one of the two techniques below for baking your pizza pies:
1- Use a "pizza stone"
or
2 - Use a "pizza screen"
If you decide to use a pizza stone, make sure you give the stone plenty of time to heat before transferring the pizza from the pizza peel to the stone. You'll want to follow the instructions provided with the pizza stone very accurately.
The transfer from pizza peel to pizza stone will be much easier if you lightly cover your pizza peel with cornmeal. This makes the transfer process from pizza peel to pizza stone a breeze.
When using a pizza stone, the goal is to have the ingredients of the pizza complete the cooking process about the same time the crust "completely" browns. Depending on your specific oven, temperatures, 425 to 450 should suffice. Of course you'll have to experiment with cooking times for your specific oven.
Be careful not to remove the pizza to early, as this is a common mistake. Allow plenty of time for the crust to brown, without burning the cheese. If need be, CAREFULLY take a peak underneath the pie to check your crust if you like. Remember, ovens are extremely hot!
The second way to achieve a nice crispy crust is to use a pizza screen. Though this can be a bit messy, this baking platform produces wonderful crispy pizza crust. The porous nature of a pizza screen allows heat to pass through the screen directly to the bottom of the pizza.
This helps with the moisture absorption process. Direct heat helps reduce the moisture content within the pizza dough and adds to the crispy nature and texture of pizza crust. Mmmm...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it...
Pizza screens are fairly cheap, and that's great because they get a bit "clogged" with toasted cheese and ingredients after several uses. Clean them thoroughly after each use to extend the life of your screen. Besides, you'll forget about the mess when you slide that first slice of crispy pizza into your mouth, I promise.
Try these techniques to improve your pizza making adventures and remember to save me a slice!

How to Make a Pizza

Before I made my Pizza I had to make some Italian Tomato Sauce.
Ingredients:
1x onion 1x garlic clove A pinch of Salt 1x Jar of Passata (preferably for Pizza Sauce) ...or 2x tins of good quality Tomatoes (preferably for Pasta Sauce) ...or a kilo of ripe tomatoes 1x Tablespoon of sugar
Add the onion and a pinch of salt, preferably Malden Sea Salt. Fry them off for about 10 minutes, in olive oil, slowly on a medium heat. Be careful you do not want to colour the onion. After 5 minutes add the garlic, you can crush the garlic with salt to create a paste. However I used the Goodfellas method, well I used my sharp chefs knife rather than a razor blade. You can always add half a chili if you want to make an Arrabiata sauce. If using passata, I like to add sliced sundried tomatoes as they add an extra bit of texture and depth to the sauce

You might want to rinse out your bottle/can with some water and add the juice to the pan or add a little wine. Taste for seasoning, I normally add a little sugar, to help bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes. Let the sauce gently simmer on the lowest hear for an hour or two. The sauce will thicken up, and you will have the perfect tomato sauce for a pizza. If making Pasta sauce add the Basil leaves at the last minute.
This is pretty much the basic recipe for any good tomato sauce.
Next I made the Pizza base
Pizza Base From Jamie Oliver's book Jamie's Italy
Ingredients:
800g Strong White Floor 200g Semolina flour or more strong bread flour 1 level tablespoon of fine sea salt 2x7g sachets of dried yeast .....or 30g of fresh yeast 1 tablespoon of golden caster sugar About 650 ml of tepid water
Pizza Topping
Ingredients:
Pizza Sauce Basil Leaves Mozzarella (Cows Milk) A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
The recipe states it will make 6-8 medium sized thin crust pizzas. I halved the ingredients and made use of some Italian type "00" flour I had. The breakdown of the flours I used was
200g Strong Bread Flour 200g Italian type "00" flour 100g semolina floor.
1. Put the flours and salt in a bowl or on a clean surface. Add the yeast and sugar to the water, leave for a couple of minutes. Then combine the water/yeast mix to the flour, bring it together with a spoon/fork and then your hands, so it becomes one big ball. Make sure it isn't too wet or too dry.
2. Then knead for about 10 minutes or till you have a soft and pliable dough. Flour the top of the dough and add it to the oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave for 15 to 30 minutes.
3. Divide the ball of dough into however many pizzas you want. The dough wants to be rolled out about 15-30 minutes before it goes in the over. If using a pizza stone, sprinkle some semolina flour or regular flour on the stone and it will stop the pizza sticking to it.
4. Once the dough is ready I add a thin layer of tomato sauce, and put it in a pre-heated oven at 220 Celsius/ for about 5 minutes, bring it out, add the basil leaves and then cover them with the mozzarella. For making pizza it is actually best to use cows milk mozzarella because it has less liquid in the cheese compared with the pricier buffalo mozzarella. Add some olive oil to the cheese and then add to the over for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the base has a nice golden colour it.
This is pretty much the classic Neapolitan pizza. This pizza is the epitome of Italian cuisine, 3-4 amazing ingredients, cooked perfectly it makes the sauce, basil and mozzarella the star. Simplicity is the key.

A Pizza

A pizza consists of a crust, sauce, cheese (and it doesn’t HAVE to be mozzarella) and toppings. Some pizzas are nothing more than a vehicle for piling as much gooey cheese as possible. Other pizzas go easy on the cheese and concentrate more on perfecting the flavor of the sauce and the consistency of the crust.
Whichever pizza is more your style (and some would say that ANY pizza is their style), you’re sure to be able to find someone who would be willing to argue about your choice with you.
Some of the most popular toppings are the old favorites: pepperoni, sausage, veggies and, of course, extra cheese. Although some would argue that extra cheese qualifies as a topping. Just because these are the most popular, does that necessarily make them the best pizza toppings?
Many of your who are over 40 can remember a world where putting ham and pineapple on a pizza was considered bizarre. Today, adding such toppings is often called a Hawaiian pizza, and it’s a very popular choice nationwide.



At some state fairs in the late 1980’s, vendors offered two pizzas that were pretty innovative at the time. One was a pizza void of tomato sauce and covered instead in a white sauce, cheese and spinach. The other was a pizza crust topped with only cheese and big hunks of broccoli.
The first pizza caught on pretty well, and spinach on pizza isn’t considered very unusual. White pizza - with or without the spinach – is hugely popular. The broccoli pizza, however, never really found it’s place and I think you’d be hard pressed to find a pizza that resembles that fair ground fare from the 80’s.
The reason is probably two fold: One is that pizza was totally void of sauce. Therefore, it can’t even technically be considered pizza. Secondly, the ingredients of a pizza are supposed to blend together to provide a perfect pizza experience. When you bit into the broccoli pizza it was sort of like “Oh, this is very dry pizza..hey, wait a minute! I’m gnawing on raw broccoli…..!!” Really, that’s what it was like. People that want to eat crunchy raw broccoli order salad, not pizza. That broccoli pizza never had a chance.
There is never going to be a time when everyone agrees on what makes a perfect pizza, and that’s okay. At the heart of every passionate pizza lover is one common thought:“Pizza is the best food in the world!”
Pretty simple, isn’t it? Crust. Sauce. Cheese. Toppings. The rest is open to private interpretation. Instead of arguing about it, wouldn’t that time be better spent just enjoying a slice?

Making a Pizza

Before I made my Pizza I had to make some Italian Tomato Sauce.
Ingredients:
1x onion 1x garlic clove A pinch of Salt 1x Jar of Passata (preferably for Pizza Sauce) ...or 2x tins of good quality Tomatoes (preferably for Pasta Sauce) ...or a kilo of ripe tomatoes 1x Tablespoon of sugar
Add the onion and a pinch of salt, preferably Malden Sea Salt. Fry them off for about 10 minutes, in olive oil, slowly on a medium heat. Be careful you do not want to colour the onion. After 5 minutes add the garlic, you can crush the garlic with salt to create a paste. However I used the Goodfellas method, well I used my sharp chefs knife rather than a razor blade. You can always add half a chili if you want to make an Arrabiata sauce. If using passata, I like to add sliced sundried tomatoes as they add an extra bit of texture and depth to the sauce
You might want to rinse out your bottle/can with some water and add the juice to the pan or add a little wine. Taste for seasoning, I normally add a little sugar, to help bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes. Let the sauce gently simmer on the lowest hear for an hour or two. The sauce will thicken up, and you will have the perfect tomato sauce for a pizza. If making Pasta sauce add the Basil leaves at the last minute.
This is pretty much the basic recipe for any good tomato sauce.
Next I made the Pizza base
Pizza Base From Jamie Oliver's book Jamie's Italy
Ingredients:
800g Strong White Floor 200g Semolina flour or more strong bread flour 1 level tablespoon of fine sea salt 2x7g sachets of dried yeast .....or 30g of fresh yeast 1 tablespoon of golden caster sugar About 650 ml of tepid water
Pizza Topping
Ingredients:
Pizza Sauce Basil Leaves Mozzarella (Cows Milk) A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
The recipe states it will make 6-8 medium sized thin crust pizzas. I halved the ingredients and made use of some Italian type "00" flour I had. The breakdown of the flours I used was
200g Strong Bread Flour 200g Italian type "00" flour 100g semolina floor.
1. Put the flours and salt in a bowl or on a clean surface. Add the yeast and sugar to the water, leave for a couple of minutes. Then combine the water/yeast mix to the flour, bring it together with a spoon/fork and then your hands, so it becomes one big ball. Make sure it isn't too wet or too dry.

2. Then knead for about 10 minutes or till you have a soft and pliable dough. Flour the top of the dough and add it to the oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave for 15 to 30 minutes.
3. Divide the ball of dough into however many pizzas you want. The dough wants to be rolled out about 15-30 minutes before it goes in the over. If using a pizza stone, sprinkle some semolina flour or regular flour on the stone and it will stop the pizza sticking to it.
4. Once the dough is ready I add a thin layer of tomato sauce, and put it in a pre-heated oven at 220 Celsius/ for about 5 minutes, bring it out, add the basil leaves and then cover them with the mozzarella. For making pizza it is actually best to use cows milk mozzarella because it has less liquid in the cheese compared with the pricier buffalo mozzarella. Add some olive oil to the cheese and then add to the over for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the base has a nice golden colour it.
This is pretty much the classic Neapolitan pizza. This pizza is the epitome of Italian cuisine, 3-4 amazing ingredients, cooked perfectly it makes the sauce, basil and mozzarella the star. Simplicity is the key.
As I had two pizza bases, I made some garlic bread and with the leftover dough, I made a baby calzone.
Next time I will make 3x pizzas and they will fit my pizza stones perfectly. Next time it be a case of squeezing as mush meat as I can onto the pizza. After using an old Pizza recipe from the Italian cookbook The Silver Spoon, it is nice that you don't have to wait 2 or 3 hours for the dough to rise. I think the addition of semolina does make a difference, however it is not critical.
The beer was cold, the rugby was tight and the food was Superb.

History Of Chicago Style Pizza

The Chicago-style "deep-dish" pizza that many people love was invented at Pizzeria Uno, in Chicago, in 1943, reportedly by Uno's founder Ike Sewell, a former University of Texas football star. However, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News asserts that Uno's original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the famous recipe.
The pizza's foundation is simple. It uses a thick layer of dough (made with olive oil and cornmeal) that is formed to a deep round pan and pulled up the sides. The pizza crust is then parbaked before the toppings are added to give it greater spring.
Parbaking is a cooking technique in which a bread or dough product is partially baked and then rapidly frozen or cooled. The raw dough is baked as if normal, but halted at about 80% of the normal cooking time, when it is rapidly cooled and frozen. The partial cooking kills the yeast in the bread mixture, and sets the internal structure of the proteins and starches (the spongy texture of the bread), so that it is now essentially cooked inside, but not so far as to have generated "crust" or other externally desirable qualities that are difficult to preserve once fully cooked.
The crust is then covered with cheese (generally sliced mozzarella) and covered with meats and/or vegetables such as Italian sausage, onions, and bell peppers. A sauce consisting of crushed or pureed tomatoes is then added. Usually this is topped with a grated cheese blend to add additional flavor. On the usual pizza, about a pound of cheese is added. Because of the amount of ingredients in this style of pizza, it is usually eaten with a knife and fork. It's quite messy to eat with your fingers.
In addition to Uno, additional famous deep-dish restaurants include Uno's companion restaurant Due, which was opened just down the block by Sewell in 1955. However, a year before, in 1954, The Original Gino's Pizza, located on Rush Street, opened its doors, and 12 years later in 1966, Gino's East opened. Other deep dish restaurants include Edwardo's, Connie's, Giordano's, Carmen's, Pizano's (which is owned by Rudy Malnati's son, Rudy Jr.), and Lou Malnati's (which was begun by another of Rudy Malnati's sons and is now run by his grandsons and has 26 Chicago area locations).
Chicago deep-dish pizza is famous throughout the world. Accordingly, many Chicago deep-dish pizza restaurants will ship their pizzas, partially baked, within the continental U.S.
In the mid-1970s, two Chicago chains, Nancy's, founded by Rocco Palese, and Giordano's began experimenting with deep dish pizza and created the stuffed pizza. Palese based his creation on his mother's recipe for scarciedda, an Italian Easter pie from his hometown of Potenza. A Chicago Magazine article featuring Giordano's stuffed pizza popularized the dish. Other pizzerias that make stuffed pizzas include Bacino's, Edwardo's and Carmen's. Most also make thin crust pizzas.
Stuffed pizzas are often even taller than deep-dish pizzas, but otherwise, it can be hard to see the difference until you cut into it. A stuffed pizza generally has much higher topping density than any other type of pizza. As with deep-dish pizza, a thin layer of dough forms a bowl in a high-sided pan and the toppings and cheese are added. Then, an additional layer of dough goes on top and is pressed to the sides of the bottom crust.
At this stage of the process, the thin dough top has a rounded, domed appearance. Pizza makers often puncture a small hole in the top of the "pizza lid" to allow air and steam to escape while cooking. This allows the pizza sauce to permeate through the pie. Pizza sauce is added to the top crust layer and the pizza is then baked.
Chicago pan pizza in Chicago is similar to the traditional deep-dish style pizza served in other areas of the country, and baked in a similar deep-sided pan, but its crust is quite thick -- a cross between the buttery crisp crust and focaccia. Toppings and cheese frequently go on the top of a pan pizza, rather than under the sauce as is traditionally the case with deep-dish and stuffed pizza. The placement of the cheese and toppings on top make the pan pizza variety similar to a thin-crust pizza with a thicker and larger crust.
In addition to Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, there is also a thin-crust pizza unique to Chicago, sometimes referred to as "flat pizza". The crust is thin and firm, usually with a crunchy texture, unlike a New York-style pizza, yet thick enough to be soft and doughy on the top.
The crust is topped with a liberal quantity of Italian style tomato sauce. This type of sauce is usually seasoned with herbs or and highly spiced. Typically there are no visible chunks of tomato in the crust. A layer of toppings is added, and finally a layer of mozzarella cheese.
Chicago style pizza has a rich and famous heritage and admirers from all over the world. If you're a pizza lover and you've never tried this type of pizza, be sure to give it a try, I'm absolutely convinced that you will love it!