Linden's First Pizza

I think pizza is one of the more delicious foods in the world. And since I don't really go out much, I decided to learn to do it myself. (This also may have to do with the fact that Epicurious did a pizza roundup a few weeks ago, and I have been craving it for a while but am currently super resistant to eating out.) But, there is this idea in my head that pizza is very difficult and time-consuming to make, possibly because I have a vague memory of Mama making it once or twice and then saying, "never again!" or at least never repeating the experiment. So I didn't want to do it in the middle of hardworking.

Fortunately, I took a week off (during which I went to Newbury, London, Lyme Regis and Brighton) but I was home for two days in the middle, so I spent a day reading up on my pizza techniques and making one. It was very easy! Slightly time-consuming - the dough needs two hours to rise, so planning must be planned - and other than the initial ten minutes of dough-mixing, it's about an hour's work and ten minutes cooking in the oven. (So, more time-consuming than my normal 30-minute dinners, but not as bad as I was expecting.)

I went traditional, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, and a little bit of parmesan flaked on top.

And then, I cooked it! It was super good. The next day, I made garlic knots with the leftover dough, but alas forgot to take pictures.

I made another round of pizzas while the parents were staying in my room, and they said they were delicious and that I have now beaten Xan, no matter what he cooks.