The Untraditionalist

Tom starts off the introduction to the Napoletana pizza recipe saying that it is a very traditional one. Ha! Well, leave it to me to screw with tradition! When do I ever seem to follow the rules in this project??!

83. Quicker Tomato Sauce - *Junk Food*
84. Napoletana - *Junk Food*

I was hesitant to dive into another pizza recipe following my previous debacle. Ironically, my pizza making in the past had been disaster-free. I think it is because I didn't heat my pans first, or would just make one large pie, albeit not exactly a thin-crust one!

In order to give myself more time and to not rush, I made the basic dough on Wednesday night, and the pizzas last night. The dough, as you may recall, is quite simple - I have to toot my own horn and say what a bad ass I am when it comes to making dough in my Kitchenaid. It has taken a lot of time and practice but I finally have all the techniques down resulting in perfect dough and no last minute running for more water or flour! I left the dough to rise in the fridge overnight, knowing that it will probably result in a crunchier pizza - fine by me!

So last night, I made the sauce and added the toppings for the final assembly job. The sauce, as its title implies, is mega-fast to make. But I am mega-slow, so for me, it was a Moderately Fast Tomato Sauce. :)

First I crushed some tomatoes in a colander. Tom indicates to use two cans of peeled whole plum tomatoes, or to use fresh, if I'm confident my tomatoes are ripe and delicious - oh boy, were they!!

Don't adjust your screens, yes those are orange tomatoes! This was my first summer seeing these tomatoes in Brooklyn. I'm sure they are all around greenmarkets in the 'city', but it was the first time seeing them at my local grocery store. Of course, how could I not pick them up?! Actually, I walk by the store every day mentally scanning its inventory - I was so delighted to see them this week, and for 99¢ a pound!

Now, back to the sauce, it was indeed 'quicker' than the Quick Tomato Sauce, in that no cooking was involved. I squished the tomatoes, getting rid of extra moisture. This tip came from the man himself in an email to me. I had asked Tom about his expertise in making sauce out of fresh tomatoes, and he said:

Whenever I use fresh for sauces I deseed but often don't peel them. You could do both, but needn't bother with either if the tomatoes are on the small side. It's the runny juices in the cavity rather than seeds or skin that can make the sauce watery that bother me!

I managed to squish the tomatoes as much as possible to get rid of any juices, and what I got was a wonderful orange pulp! Beautiful!

In a separate bowl, I squished some garlic with salt and added it to some light olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Then I pureed the entire thing in my new Kitchenaid (cobalt blue, natch!) food processor. It's only a 3 cup one - many of my friends will know that I am saving myself for the 12 cup when I buy a house! But this one was purchased to replace my $9.99 one, that I had purchased at Rite Aid, no less! Ain't my new boyfriend a beauty?!

And there you go, the Quicker Tomato Sauce. I loved the technique of using non-cooked tomatoes and just mixing it up with salt, oil and vinegar, and garlic. That's really all a sauce needs, in my opinion. It reminds me of the fabulous fresh sauces on the brick-oven pizzas served here, like in Patsy's or Lombardi's. Fantastic!

Then came time to take out the dough and start a-rolling! Last time, I had a few problems, to say the least. This time I was more organized, took out two pizza pans, and chucked half of the dough into the freezer for next time.

It was a bitch to roll out, I'll admit, but I know that is because it was losing its chill from the fridge and did not lend itself too much, but after some elbow grease I managed, erm, sort of 24cm circles. Well, close.

As you could see from the top, I topped the pizza Napoletana-style (sort of!) with mozzarella, oregano, and dry and wrinkly black olives. This is where I went untraditional. First, I used orange tomatoes for the sauce. Then, I completely ignored Tom's suggestion to use anchovies and capers. I hate the former, and Rafa hates the latter. We're fussy! No wonder we have no friends! Ha! He said that mozzarella is not traditional, but nevertheless yummy, so I decided to go with the yumminess factor and included it! Tom also mentioned to add the oregano or basil after cooking, but I knew I'd forget that way, so added it with the other toppings. I must say, the pizza did not suffer - in fact, it was fantastic!

I was happy that the pizza did not get too puffy and maintained a certain air of crispiness and thin-ness. The toppings worked so well and the entire apartment smelled of garlic due to the fantastic sauce! I didn't bother heating the baking pans first, but I don't think my pizza was gravely affected because of that. Here's a virtual slice for hungry readers!

Mmmmmm! Pizza! A friend said I had some balls to attempt to make a pizza to rival the great pizzerias around me -- well I have to admit, it's not exactly Trio, but not too shabby either!