Ingredients:

• A ball of fresh dough (any grocery store will carry this, usually in the prepared foods section)
  
• Fresh basil (at least two good handfulls)
  
• Fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 
  
• A 14 oz. can of peeled, whole, plum tomatoes
  
• Fresh garlic
  
• Salt, pepper, oregano, sugar
  
• A bit of cornmeal
  
• A bit of flour

Oh, you'll also need this:

A pizza stone.  Our secret for a crispy crust. 

Cooking instructions:

1.  Place the pizza stone in the oven and pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees.  (Note: Some recipes call for 500 degrees, and some call for 450.  Our rigorous testing has deemed 500 to be too hot and 450 not hot enough.  Your oven may vary, though, so be aware.)

2.  While the oven and stone are heating up, make your sauce.  Start by putting a few turns of extra virgin olive oil into a frying pan on the stove and turning it on medium-high.

3.  Chop up the garlic (we use at least 6 – 8 cloves) and, when the oil is hot, put the garlic into the oil in the pan and sauté it.

4.  Working quickly (you don’t want the garlic to burn), chop up a handful of fresh basil and toss in with the garlic.  Mix everything around together and turn the heat down to about medium.  Let the mixture sit for about a minute, allowing it to cook together.

5.  Add the can of tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon in the pan, and mix them in with the garlic and basil.

6.  Add salt, a few grinds of black pepper, some oregano, and, to cut the bitterness of the tomatoes, about 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons of sugar.  (Note: the tomatoes you’re using have no flavor to them.  We don’t measure any of the spices we add, and just keep testing it until we like how it tastes.)

7.  Mix the sauce together and let it simmer on medium heat.

8.  Sprinkle a bit of flour onto your counter or cutting board and roll out your dough.

9.  By now, your oven and pizza stone should be at the proper temperature, so remove the stone from the oven, sprinkle it with a bit of cornmeal, and place the dough on top of the stone.

10.  Toss it (not literally) into the oven for about 2 – 3 minutes; you just want it to start to cook a little bit.  You may even see big bubbles start to rise up.  Take it out as soon as it starts doing this or as soon as it turns the slightest bit of tan.

11.  Remove the stone from oven, and spread your sauce on top of the dough.  Then add your sliced mozzarella, and then the rest of your fresh basil (rip it up if you’d like).  Place the pizza back into the oven.

12.  Continue cooking until the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbling in the middle.  (Since the mozzarella is so moist, you want any water that may seep from it to burn off.  This may take anywhere from 8 – 15 minutes.  Trust me – you’ll know when it’s ready.)

13.  Once the pizza is done, pull it out of the oven and slide the pizza off the pizza stone and onto a large cutting board.  Let it sit for a minute or two before cutting.

Add a little music to get you in the mood...

Some upbeat, very Italian music (along with the wine, below) will help your pizza-making experience super fun.  A compilation of songs, like Italian Cafe put out by Putumayo, will give you a great taste of authentic Italian music.  And I dare you not to get ”...questa piccolissima seranata…” stuck in your head.

Don't forget the wine!

Pretty much any hearty red wine will go great with a pizza.  And it doesn’t have to be expensive - our favorite bottle is huge and costs around $10.  Buy what you like, and if you’re not sure what to get, mainstream brands like Yellow Tail, Lindemans, and Rosemount are always safe bets.