Bake 2: Pizza

This was one of the “level 1” recipes and one of the first in the book. I actually make pizza regularly (or more accurately my husband makes pizza and I prepare toppings). I really like the crust we make, so didn’t want to start the bakes with a recipe I already knew. However there were a few interesting things about the pizza recipe in the book that I wanted to check out.
-The crust was very thin and transferred to parchment paper after being rolled out. Then after being assembled it went on top of a preheated upside-down cookie sheet still on the parchment paper to get that hot surface=good crust pizza magic. We use a pizza stone normally, but that restricts us to one pizza at a time. This time I cooked three pizzas, one on the pizza stone and the other two on the cookie sheets. The results were indistinguishable. Good to know!
– I found the crust good, but I still prefer our whole wheat one for better chew and texture even though thin. And any time I actually prefer the healthier form of something-that is a plus. Here is the link to the recipe in Eating Well that we use (my favorite cooking magazine- I highly recommend it!). http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/thin_crust_pizza_dough.html
-The sauce on the other hand is my new favorite pizza sauce! I liked it because it was very fresh and clean tasting and still had the sharp taste of the tomato, basil, and garlic. I actually wished I had only put a little cheese on it and no toppings! Next time I will leave a space bare for that. This was also my first UK to US conversion (not counting metric and Celsius, which is simple math) because the sauce made with an uncommon product, at least where I am, called “passata”. It is not tomato sauce, although its texture is similar, because the tomatoes are minimally cooked before processing. It has a sharp fresh tomato taste. While I did find a source for it at the store- it is pricy and a large volume (hint- really good on roasted spaghetti squash that has been mixed with parmesan and a bit of butter). I think that a good substitute I will try next time is to blend up a can of small diced tomatoes that come in sauce- Even though that will have more skin and seeds than found in passata- it will have the fresh taste and also similar lower sodium than standard pizza sauce. The recipe just cooked it with basil and garlic for a few minutes before using it.
-Finally- the pictures, oops- the pizza was so good we had eaten most of it before I remembered to get a picture! So I just have one of the pieces left on my husband’s plate (mine was empty!).
Next- something sweet- Profiteroles