My Grandmother’s “Square A-Pizz”
So I dug in too fast. My grandmother would have made me wait the incredibly LONG, felt like an eternity, 10 minutes for it to rest.
Whenever I make my Grandmothers “square A-pizz” as it was named growing up, my home fills with such a “scented memory”. A “scented memory” of a Saturday evening growing up in my Grandmothers home. This was her signature pizza and it was only created on Saturday evenings. Trust me this is outrageous.
You will need 2 lbs of pizza dough, 1 lb of a nice quality mozzarella, 1 can 28 ounce crushed Italian plum tomatoes, olive oil, heated romano cheese and a baking sheet.
Start with 2 lbs of pizza dough. You can make it or buy it. Place the dough in a olive oil greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap, leave in a warm spot in your kitchen for an hour to rise. When the hour is up generously grease a baking sheet with olive oil and run it all around with your fingers covering the entire pan, sides and all. Spread the dough evenly to all sides. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place in your kitchen and let it rise for 1 hour until it doubles in size.
I use a fresh mozzarella and about a pound will do. Leave it out for an hour to come to room temperature, it will melt much easier.
The pizza sauce, this is easy. Take one can 28 ounces of crushed plum tomatoes (use a good quality and not one with puree). Pour the tomatoes in a pot and bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 min to thicken.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. When the dough has doubled in size place the dough in the oven for 15 minutes.
Remove the dough from the oven and layer with thin slices of the mozzarella cheese to cover the whole pizza and then top with the sauce. I love a lot of sauce. Sprinkle a generous amount of romano cheese all over the sauced pizza. I know you are used to putting the sauce down first then the cheese but trust me this is gonna be amazing.
Place back in the oven and cook for 10 min and turn and cook another 10 min or until done to your taste. You can lift a corner up with the tip of a knife to check if it is done. You will see it start to brown on the bottom. I make mine a little well done.
Now here is the hard part, you need to let it rest for 10 min before cutting. You can remove it from the pan and place on a cutting a board or just cut it in the pan. I hope you enjoy my “square A-pizz”.
Enjoy and remember good food is easy to make. Just throw in a little love.
Daniel
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