For the love of pizza...

We've been trying to cut back on dining out since the economy started circling the drain. With a teenage boy in the house, pizza night has become a fixture over the years. We have sought out and found many excellent pizza joints up and down the east and west coasts, but with an average of $40 a pop (not including wine), we decided to come up with a basic pizza recipe that approximates what we love about this dish: thin crust, tasty sauce and just the right amount of cheese. It is a basic cheese pizza (we're purists), but you can top it with anything you want. The dough takes a little preparation, but it's worth it. The dough recipe is actually double what you need--I freeze half for another day--so if you want just enough for the two pizzas, cut the quantities for the dough portion in half.

Dough (this will make enough for four pizzas)
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Put this in a mixing bowl and give the yeast 5 minutes or so to wake up (by the time you finish mixing the flours it should be ready to go).

5 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil (pref. olive oil, but vegetable oil will do)

Mix the dry stuff together and add to the wet. Incorporate the flours a cup at a time in to the yeast mixture if mixing manually. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, use that and mix all at once. Toward the end of mixing, add a little more water if the dough seems too dry and inelastic; if too wet, add more flour. Take dough out of mixing bowl and knead on a floured counter top until it becomes smooth and pliable. Scrape out the mixing bowl and lightly oil. Then place the dough in the bowl, cover with a cloth and let rise in the warmer part of the kitchen until about doubled in bulk (between 1 and 2 hours).

Sauce (make sauce and cool while the dough rises--enough for two pizzas)
1 - 28oz. can of diced tomatoes (pref. organic)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons red wine (optional)
1 chopped clove of garlic (optional)

Place all sauce ingredients into a blender and blend. Pour contents into a sauce pan and simmer on med. low for 20-30 minutes (stirring often). Take off heat and let cool.

(Once the dough is risen) At this point I divide the dough in half and knead into two rounds--one I put into a plastic bag and stick in the freezer for the next pizza night, the other I divide and knead into two rounds. Let these rounds rise on the counter for about 30 minutes.

While the rounds rise on the counter, set two racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees (see caution below). Take two sheet pans, flip them upside down and oil their backsides (this is the surface on which you will cook the pizzas). Take the rounds and begin to gently stretch them into rectangles. Place the rectangles onto the sheet pans and carefully stretch them out to the edges--you want the dough to be stretched very thin (it will rise in the oven). Then spoon the cooled sauce on the dough.

Cheese (enough for two pizzas)
1 pound mozzarella (shred)
4 tablespoons parmesan

Sprinkle cheeses on the pizzas. Carefully place pizzas in the oven and cook for a total 12-14 minutes, swapping positions halfway through for more even cooking (if you don't, the pizza crust on the bottom rack may over-cook). Caution: 500 degrees is really, really hot, so keep your face away from the oven when you open it and use thick, dry kitchen towels when handling the racks or pizza pans. Also, if your oven is not clean it will smoke.

When the pizzas are out, use a knife to separate pizza from pan and place liberated pizzas on cooling racks (this keeps the crust somewhat crisp). While the process may look daunting, it really doesn't take that much effort and, once preformed a few times, goes quite quick. Two pizzas easily feed our family of three with a few slices left over for the next day. Depending on grocery prices in your area, the total cost per pizza is about $3.

Stone soup

This story has it all: community, frugality and good soup!

Once upon a time there was a poor village in a land at war. There came into the small hamlet a company of weary soldiers. Tired and hungry, they encamped in the town near the town square. The villagers trembled, for they had no food to share with these men, and were afraid the men might cause trouble. Soon the small band of men uncovered a gigantic pot and began to lay a fire for it. Trudging back and forth to the town well, they filled the pot with water and set it carefully on the crackling fire. An old woman, peering from behind a shutter, noticed that they had dropped a round stone into the pot. Unable to contain her curiosity, she ventured into the open, approached the cluster of men around the pot, and after looking in the kettle, "What pray tell, are you cooking there?"

The soldiers looked up and replied, "Stone soup, my good woman, a wondrous dish and so, so much better if we were to have a single onion or two to drop herein!" "I am but a poor peasant and have hardly enough to eat for myself," she answered, "but perhaps there is a sad onion or two on my kitchen shelf". I will bring them here for your soup if you will share a bowl of your fine repast with me." They consented, and she quickly disappeared, hungry with anticipation at the meal.

As she returned and added the onions, a querulous old man approached and after looking into the kettle, called out, "What pray tell, are you cooking here?" "Stone soup, my good man, and a right good banquet it is," they answered, "but how much better it would be if only we had some simple carrot to add." The poor man shook his head and replied, "I am but a starving peasant, but perhaps my good wife has some carrots hidden away for our last bite of food. I would share them with you if you would share a bowl of your fine soup with me and that good woman." They nodded appreciatively and awaited the return of the old man, his old wife and the carrots. After a while, return they did, and added their meager bounty to the pot.

They all sat down and waited. A young girl with a small basket full of herbs from the meadow entered the square and joined the group around the large and bubbling pot. She too was persuaded to add her share and she too waited. One by one, the hungry peasants of the village came out to see what the excitement was about. And one by one, they added a few potatoes, a handful of beans, a small green cabbage and a bone.

There soon appeared in their midst the town butcher, who had long since closed his door. Huffing and puffing, and mopping his brow with with a large red handkerchief, he called out, "What is all this commotion? What pray tell, smells so wonderfully good here in this poor village, which has nothing to eat?" "Stone soup, Sir," said the soldiers, "a creation fit for a king. All that is lacking to gibe it truly proportions is a chicken."

Oohs and aahs were heard throughout the crowd of hungry peasants. It is said that one old woman fainted from the heavenly nature of the thought. The butcher quietly disappeared. Within a matter of minutes he returned, clutching a scrawny chicken, his very last, and dropped it, with applause from the crowd, into the pot. There was a great merriment in the town that night. It had been a long time since they had laughed and sung and danced - and a very long time since they had eaten so well. In the morning when the town awoke, the soldiers had packed up their pot and left the village, leaving behind only the stone.

They marched all day and in the evening entered another small town. They uncovered their gigantic pot and set about laying a for for it. A nervous old man approached them and asked, "What pray tell, are you cooking there?" The soldiers looked up and replied, "Stone soup, my good man, a wondrous dish and so, so much better if we were to have a single onion or two to drop herein!"

--The Brothers Grimm

Here's the recipe:

You will need:
3-4 cans vegetable broth (or make your own)
6 red potatoes (cut in slices about 1/4-1/2 thick)
3 carrots (peeled and sliced)
1 zucchini (sliced)
1 summer squash (sliced)
1 onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (mashed through a press)
1 stalk celery (sliced)
1/2 bell pepper (sliced/diced)
1 cup green beans (fresh is best but canned/frozen works)
1 large tomato (chopped up)
1/2 cup peas (again fresh is best but canned/frozen works)
1/2-1 cup corn (frozen works better than canned for some reason)
salt & pepper
small amount of butter or oil for sauteing the veggies
1 small CLEAN and STERILE stone
shredded parmesan cheese

place a stone in a soup pot

saute the garlic, onion, green pepper, celery and carrots until the onion is tender

add broth, add potatoes and squashes bring to a boil and add the remaining ingredients (if you are using fresh veggies you can add them all at the same time.....canned/frozen will turn mushy if added too soon though)cook over medium-low heat until veggies are tender.

scoop out the stone.......serve with parmesan cheese on top

For a huge list of money saving soup recipes go to http://www.thatsmyhome.com/soupkitchen/