Cappicolla and Buffalo Mozzarella Pizza

This pizza was the result of having the right kind of ingredients. It truly just made itself. Simple, yet oh so tasty! You can ramp up the taste, if you use buffalo mozzarella.

If not available, any whole milk or regular mozzarella will do.

Ingredients:

• Dough for 1 pizza (Dough recipe will make 2 regular sized pizzas or 4 thin Neapolitan pizzas)
• 4-6 oz. of buffalo mozzarella (whole milk mozzarella is fine)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
• 2-4 oz . of parmesan cheese
• 1 16 oz. can of stewed tomatoes or pizza sauce (One can is enough for 2 pizzas)
• 4-6 slices of cappicolla (thinly sliced Italian ham)
• ¼ cup fresh basil or more (if available)
• olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Roll out dough to desired size.
2. Drizzle olive oil on dough. Spread evenly.
3. Drain and crush tomatoes with a fork and then spread evenly on pizza
4. Mince garlic and spread on tomatoes or sauce
5. Slice mozzarella and spread over dough
6. Spread the parmesan on the pizza
7. Cover pizza with the cappicolla
8. Bake at 500+ degrees F. (260+ C.)  for 8 to 10 minutes. The hotter the oven the better.
9. (preferably on a preheated Pizza Stone. Stone should be preheated for 1 hour.)
10. After pizza is cooked, tear basil leaves and put on cooked pizza. Add other spices to taste.

Tips

• Use buffalo or whole milk mozzarella. Regular mozzarella will work. But the buffalo mootz, (as they say in New Haven), will be fantastic!
• You can eliminate the cappicolla, and make a Margherita!
• You can substitute ¼-½ cup of Tomato sauce for fresh tomatoes or use both!
• Use fresh basil if available but dried will work.
• You can get a "starter" basil plant from a garden supply store. Pick off a few leaves as needed. Keep transplanting to a larger pot as it grows. Bring it inside for the winter. There is nothing like fresh basil!

For more pizza recipes like this one, check out The Pizza Therapy Pizza Book.

pizza on earth,
Albert "The Pizza Promoter" Grande

If you need some pizza making music, I recommend, the pizza tapes.
Jerry Garcia, at his acoustic best:

.

The Ultimate Recipe Challenge Winner: Gail J. Churinetz!

I never doubted it for a second!
Our own Gail J. Churinetz, a long time member of the Pizza Therapy Ohana won the The Ultimate Recipe Challenge on The Food Network.

A huge congratulations goes out to Gail and her family.

Gail has been a dedicated foodie and pizza fanatic for many years. As a matter of fact I still have a bunch of her recipes on a CD she made for me a number of years ago.

As an aside, Gail is such a pizza purist, she has all of the water she uses for he pizzas, imported straight from New Haven!

And as I understand it, The Water for her award winning pizza, came right from the tap at Sally's Apizza on Wooster Street.

The award winning pizza: a Crawfish and Andouille Sausage Pizza. Gail's recipe was up against some very stiff competition. In the end, her recipe won over the judges.

While, I do not have permission to share her pizza recipe, you can get copy of the recipe at this link.

Also, here is the link for Gail's Award Winning Recipe at Pizza Therapy.

Here's what Gail said to me:

Did you see the show??????

Too fun!!!!
Here's the  Food Network Link
Crazy Albert...I'm on the cover of foodnetwork.com.....
In the newspaper, radio interviews and last nights newscast....tooo funnnn....
Television Story

Gail, you deserve it!

On behalf of Pizza Lovers everywhere, we are so proud of you!

pizza all over The Food Network,

albert grande
The Pizza Promoter

Check out some the best of The Food Network, here:

Bacon, Spinach and Tomato Pizza

An Original: The B, S and T (Bacon, Spinach and Tomato Pizza!)

I am always trying to come up with new tastes for my guests. This was a recipe that evolved out of having some friends bring different ingredients for pizza. The result was a real crowd pleaser and a wonderful marriage of different tastes.

Ingredients:

• Dough for 1 pizza

• 1/4 to 1/2 lb. of bacon, cooked

• 1 cup of fresh spinach, washed and drained

• 1/2 to one whole tomato thinly sliced

• 4-6 oz. of mozzarella cheese

• 2-4 oz. of parmesan or provolone cheese

• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

• basil, oregano, salt and pepper to taste

• olive oil

Directions:

1. Wash and rinse spinach. Drain and set aside.

2. Cook bacon, and drain on paper towel.

3. Roll out dough to desired size.

4. Drizzle olive oil on dough. Spread evenly.

5. Spread remaining minced garlic on dough.

6. Evenly spread spinach on dough. Add desired spices. Reserve a pinch or two.

7. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese over the dough

8. Tear bacon into bite sized bits. (or just layer slices on the pizza.)

9. Top pizza with sliced tomato. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and top with oregano and/or basil.

10. Bake at 500 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

(preferably on a preheated pizza & baking stone).

You can find more recipes like this one in the Pizza Therapy Pizza Book
 
Make pizza be happy:
 

.Pizza Therapy Pizza Book
 
pizza on earth,
 
Albert Grande, The Pizza Promoter