a pie in the eye.....or in my belly!

my new thing is pizzas. i have always liked pizza but never been totally over the top for it. why? i guess i've never really had an awesome pizza. the other day i finally had awesome pizza AND i made it myself! i picked up some frozen dough on a whim for 99 cents at (gallucci's) (ok, so i didn't make the dough from scratch. give me a break. i'm just starting!) and i picked up my fixin's - fresh romano, buffalo mozzarella, basil, panchetta, pepperoni, and cappicola at (deviti's). both totally amazing places by the way so if you're in northeastern ohio please go patron them.

i made my own sauce which is a take on the 'five minute tomato sauce' i found on one of my favorite cooking blogs:

1/3 c. olive oil
4 chopped garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
2-3 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (unseasoned)
zest of a lemon or a lil' lemon juice

add oil, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes to a saucepan and cook over medium heat about 5-7 minutes until fragrant and bubbly - do not brown the garlic. stir in the tomatoes and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes. at the very end add the zing of lemon.

pizza construction is super easy!

saucin' the pies

meat mania pizza
pepperoni, capicola, panchetta, mozzarella, and romano

pizza margherita
basil and mozzarella

finished product
delightful!