mozzarella Archives ⋆ REVERIES & RECIPES

Cast Iron Pan Margarita Pizza

This recipe is for a 12 inch pan. Smaller pan = less dough. I buy my dough ready made for a nearby pizzeria. Here’s a link to a recipe if you want to do it yourself. I don’t buy jarred marinara sauce. It’s too easy to make. There’s a recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients:

1 lb. pizza dough
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
3 oz. marinara sauce
Fresh mozzarella
Fresh basil

Start by heating the oven to 500 degrees. Flatten and shape the dough to fit the round pan. Pre-heat the pan so it’s hot but not smoking. Spray or brush the pan with olive oil. Place the dough in the pan and stretch it across the bottom and up the sides. Touch the dough, not the pan – it’s hot.

Brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the pan on a burner at medium heat. Just when it starts to bubble pour on and spread the sauce. Place a few thinly cut slices of mozzarella on top, leaving some spaces so the red sauce shows. A Margarita should be red (tomato), white (mozzarella), and green (basil) like an Italian flag.

Put the pan in the 500 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove from the over and scatter torn basil leaves over it while it’s still hot. Let it cool and slice.

Marinara Sauce for Pizza

3 tbsps. olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
Salt, black and red pepper to taste
1 28 oz. can of pureed San Marzano tomatoes

Put the oil in a pan on low heat and lightly saute the garlic. Add the salt and pepper. Don’t let the garlic brown. Pour in the tomatoes, stir and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

That’s marinara sauce – easy, right? You can also make this with crushed tomatoes but puree is better for pizza. After you use 3 ounces for the pizza you’ll have enough left for to serve with a pound of pasta.

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Portfolio and Yelp

Sandwiches Italian-Style

Subs, hoagies, grinders – that’s fine but in New York, it’s a hero. Sandwiches Italian-Style doesn’t necessarily mean 8 different kinds of meat and cheese and a bunch of other things, where each flavor cancels out the next. It shouldn’t be that complicated.

For a good Italian-Style sandwich the most important thing is the bread. On the right bread, cream cheese and Welch’s grape jelly can be something special. Then comes basic but high-quality ingredients. After that, the main condiments are simply salt, pepper and maybe a few drops of olive oil. Here are a few standards.

Sausage & Peppers – Fry some bell peppers and an onion. Then fry the sausage in the same pan. Simple

Tuna with Lemon and Onion – Use imported tuna packed in olive oil, add some thinly sliced lemon (with skin) and onion. A little romaine if you like.

Ricotta on a Roll – Scrape some of the bread out of the top of the roll to make room for the ricotta so it doesn’t squeeze out.

Mootz & Tomato – Fresh cold mozzarella with sliced tomatoes and basil if you have it.

Escarole – Add just washed and still wet escarole leaves to a pan where you’ve sautéed some garlic in oil. Simmer until it wilts. It’s as easy as that.

Note that only one of these sandwiches contains meat, another fish and the last three are vegetarian. That says something about the Mediterranean Diet.

The photo at the top of this page is from Medonia Brothers Bakery on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.

Click here for updated GALLERY II

REVERIES & RECIPES

Tag Archives: mozzarella

Cast Iron Margarita

Cast Iron Pan Margarita Pizza

This recipe is for a 12 inch pan. Smaller pan = less dough. I buy my dough ready made for a nearby pizzeria. Here’s a link to a recipe if you want to do it yourself. I don’t buy jarred marinara sauce. It’s too easy to make. There’s a recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients:

1 lb. pizza dough

Olive oil

Salt and black pepper

3 oz. marinara sauce

Fresh mozzarella

Fresh basil

Put the pan in the 500 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove from the over and scatter torn basil leaves over it while it’s still hot. Let it cool and slice.

Marinara Sauce for Pizza

3 tbsps. olive oil

1 garlic clove minced

Salt, black and red pepper to taste

1 28 oz. can of pureed San Marzano tomatoes

Put the oil in a pan on low heat and lightly saute the garlic. Add the salt and pepper. Don’t let the garlic brown. Pour in the tomatoes, stir and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

That’s marinara sauce – easy, right? You can also make this with crushed tomatoes but puree is better for pizza. After you use 3 ounces for the pizza you’ll have enough left for to serve with a pound of pasta.

Sandwiches Italian-Style

Sandwiches Italian-Style

Subs, hoagies, grinders – that’s fine but in New York, it’s a hero. Sandwiches Italian-Style doesn’t necessarily mean 8 different kinds of meat and cheese and a bunch of other things, where each flavor cancels out the next. It shouldn’t be that complicated.

Reveries and Recipes