On Monday, How to Eat celebrated a huge milestone. After more than 6 years of blogging, we attended the Taste Canada Awards as nominees for our blog.
Back in July, when we found out we made the shortlist alongside some of our blogging heroes (Angela from Oh She Glows and Laura from The First Mess) we totally lost our minds with excitement. And even though we didn’t walk away winners (congrats goes to Angela!), we really (truly…for real) felt like winners. We had friends from our dietitian, home ec, agriculture and foodie communities from across Canadian cheering us on and making us feel like we really belonged. Like we weren’t the imposters I sort of felt like we were. It felt like a big wedding with all your friends that love food and just want to talk about it all night. In other words, heaven.
I’d been feeling nostalgic leading up to the big event and pursuing our long list of recipes dating way back to 2012. Some I admit, could use some editing, and definitely some new photography, but there are also a whole bunch of oldies but goodies that I still use and share regularly today.
This recipe is a mashup of a How to Eat’s FIRST published recipe (Roasted Tomatoes ) which I still regularly make, and a delightful new favourite – a weekday pizza dough that neither of us can stop making. Also, I’ve added cheese. So, you’re welcome.
I’ve included a photo tutorial of the dough making process because it’s the most simple and perfect dough recipe I’ve ever come across. Although you can certainly sub in store bought pizza dough here, I beg you, try making this one at least once. It’s a game changer. Make a double batch too, it freezes perfectly.
Oh and if you don’t have a food processor, you can absolutely make it by hand. It’ll just take a few extra minutes.
This recipe for roasted tomatoes and basil has changed only slightly in that I’ve added a touch more oil and salt. Because those things just taste damn good, and we’re done cutting out or cutting back on delicious things unless we can achieve equally great flavour. Because home cooking should taste amazing and it should be satisfying. While the recipe itself hasn’t evolved too much in 6 years, our philosophy around what healthful eating is clearly has. We’re so grown up now.
We thank all of you who have stuck by us while we have grown and improved on our own skills creating and writing recipes and honing our philosophy around food and nutrition. We hope we’re all here in another 6 years, eating all the delicious things together.
Erin
Roasted Tomato, Basil and Fresh Mozzarella Pizza
Prep time
45 minutes
Cook time
15 minutes
Total time
1 hour
Website
Pizza Dough courtesy of Ricardo Cuisine
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
Pizza
Directions
Pizza Dough
1.
Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes, until mixture foams on top.
2.
In the bowl of a food processor, using the plastic blade, add flour and salt and pulse to combine. Turn on food processor and pour yeast mixture in slowly, processing just until a sticky ball forms.
3.
On a floured surface, knead dough for a minute or two until a smooth ball forms. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel and leave in a warm spot to rise for about 30 minutes.
4.
Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, 2/3 of the basil, salt and pepper. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, until tomatoes very soft and slightly brown. Allow to cool slightly.
Increase oven temperature to 450F
5.
Using a whisk or masher, mash the roasted tomatoes to break them down slightly.
6.
Transfer dough to a lightly oil a half sheet pan (18 x 24 inches) and stretch it out until it is roughly 1/4 inch thick, almost to the edges.
7.
Top dough with parmesan cheese and then dollop the crushed tomatoes over top. Tear fresh mozzarella into small pieces and evenly space it over the pizza.
8.
Bake for 13-15 minutes until edges become golden and if needed, broil for 1-2 minutes more to brown the top.
9.
Sprinkle remaining fresh basil leaves over top and serve.
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