[private]Making pizza at home is not only easy but also very fun. The pie above has mushrooms, roasted red peppers and rosemary-olive oil & garlic poached onions. It’s topped with fresh mozzarella too..pretty sweet. I make pizza at least once per week and all components are made from scratch. This may sound daunting to some, but trust me, it’s a snap. I make a triple batch of dough in my stand mixer then form it into balls, let them rise in the refrigerator then either use them that day or freeze for later use.

This is pretty much how the pizza shops do it. Each time I form freshly made dough into balls it brings me back to when I was 14-15 years old and working in a Italian restaurant in NJ. At 11pm we would make a BIG batch of dough for the next day’s pizzas.

I really see no reason to order pizza for take in, however I have no problem with going out for pizza as the dining experience makes it pleasurable…that is assuming the pizza is good.

Recently while in NYC for a tv event I ate a pizza from Lombardis, the famous coal-fired pizza joint in the SOHO area. Honestly, I was so excited to actually have their pizza after hearing so much about them on Food Network and in magazines etc…boy was I disappointed….it was average at best. Crust was not good, sauce was way too sweet..just a big let down. My pizza at home blows it away….I will readily admit that many of you may not believe that..and of course this is “my opinion”…. Lombardis has many happy customers and has for generations, they do not need my seal of approval.

In the near future, I plan on shooting a series of new videos that will comprise Harvest Eating Pizza University..admission is for all…..this series will demonstrate everything from equipment (stones, pizza peel, cutters etc..) to sauce, to dough, to toppings….stay tuned for an update..better yet..subscribe to RSS for an automatic update…

~Keith[/private]