Chef Mik's “She’a Pazzo Pizza”

Pizza has a really long history dating back to the Greek games. It was served as flat bread with honey, dried fruits or meats. This incarnation found its way to Rome and in that form it was enjoyed for centuries. Eventually when cheese became more of a staple, that to found it way onto the pizza. However the pizza we enjoy today almost didn’t happen as the tomato had something of a rocky start. Introduced first in the 14 hundreds when Columbus brought it back from the new world, as the tomato was in the nightshade family people didn’t warm up to it right away. It was only after the daughter of prince Ferdinand the duke of Genoa lent her name "Margherita" christening the delicacy, that the modern pizza and the tomato became synonymous with Italian cooking.

Pizza’s can be prepared with almost anything, be it tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, to even hamburger and French fried potatoes. However pizza usually consists of three main components: the dough, tomato sauce and cheese, that said there are several styles of pizza that substitute one of the ingredients or all of the above. At FoodPerfected we have over 300 pizza’s in our data base at last count. Including everything from the Italian and American standards, Swedish classics, and a whole horde of California style pizzas. We prepare both thin crust and deep dish pizza. We offer individual and family sizes, along with bite sized appetizer pizzas. We also bake a whole host of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free pizzas, oh and of course we have several of our own design!  On that note the pizza I am preparing today is loaded with stuff and is great any way you slice it!

Shopping List

Extra virgin olive oil

Garlic

Chili flakes

Oregano

Parmesan Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese, Gouda Cheese

Italian sausage

1 chicken breast

3 Roma tomatoes, depending on size

3 Mushrooms, fresh

50g sweet bell peppers, try a blend of colors

1 small Vidalia or other onion

1 zucchini

1 Japanese egg plant

3 sundried tomatoes, I am using marinated

Kalamata olives

1 pizza dough, see recipe

1 scoop pizza sauce, see recipe

My Mad Method

This pizza is heavy and I am preparing a thin crust so I will be using a pizza pan, which I have dusted with corn meal

Work the dough, making sure it is evenly divided, and that there are no tares, try and get the dough as thin as you can and place in center of pizza pan

Brush the surface of the dough with garlic oil (oil that has been infused with garlic) dust with chili flakes, oregano and Parmesan cheese

Add a generous amount of tomato sauce distributed evenly over the dough, leaving room around the edge for the crust

Add cooked sausage

I am using sweet Italian style sausage

Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese

Place 8 slices of fresh tomato around the pizza and if desired one extra slice in the center

Cover with sliced mushroom

Add grilled peppers, onions, zucchinis, eggplants and sundried tomatoes

Add shredded grilled chicken and Kalamata olives sliced

Top with shaved Parmesan and Smoked Gouda cheeses

Bake in at least a 275c preheated oven for circa 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and the crust has browned

Ready to eat!!