Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

Oregano

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Dried oregano from the Mediterranean surpasses all others.

Conventional cooking wisdom dictates that fresh herbs are always preferable to dried. A generation ago, you might find fresh parsley in the supermarket produce section, but that would be it. Today, fresh herbs crowd an entire section and “gourmet” recipes demand the just-picked stuff.

Some fresh herbs are, indeed, superior to their dried relatives a few aisles away. Basil is the most obvious example. It shares its subtle anise-mint flavor only when it’s newly plucked. But oregano? I don’t agree with the trend to cooking with this herb before it’s dried, especially if it was grown in a hot house or hydroponically, as so many commercially-grown herbs are.

Oregano, in Italy, is the Neapolitan pizza herb. For making the finest pizza at home, the type of oregano you choose makes a dramatic impact.

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Ten Essential Tools for Pizza Making

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Store your pizza-making tools in a designated cupboard or drawer so they're ready to roll when you are.

Pizza is simple and fun to make at home, although the owner of your local pizza joint would like you to think otherwise. You can shape the crust as thin or thick as you like and top it with Italian San Marzano tomato puree, Mediterranean oregano, true mozzarella di bufala and other high-quality condiments. These ten essential tools are the minimum battery you need to create wonderful pizza right in your own kitchen. If you get hooked, you’ll find plenty more pizza-making toys—from ceramic stones to wood-burning ovens—to tempt you.

Liquid measuring cup

The class liquid measure looks like a small pitcher with a handle on the side and measurement lines painted on the side. It accurately gauges the amount of warm water or other liquid without it running over the top of the cup as it would with dry ingredient measuring cups. These measures are available in silicone, plastic, glass and metal.  Newer designs can be read by looking down into the cup instead of bending to look at it sideways. Be sure to choose one with a pour spout.

Instant-read thermometer

This handy tool takes the guess work out of determining when the temperature (105°F to 115°F) of the water is just right. If the water is too cold, the yeast won’t activate. If the water is too hot, the yeast will die.

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Pizza Aglio e Olio Recipe

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Slivered garlic, olive oil and oregano create a wonderful change from the classic tomato sauced pizza.

Pizza with garlic and olive oil is kitchen magic.

When the cupboard seems bare, you can whip up this satisfying supper or snack with basic foodstuffs—olive oil, garlic, oregano, flour, and dry yeast—that most likely are in your pantry.

This pizza is a fine accompaniment to insalata caprese, fresh mozzarella and tomatoes.

If you’re the advance-planning type, you can pull a pre-made crust out of your freezer.

Pizza Aglio e Olio Recipe

Makes one 14-to-16-inch pizza

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe
1 tablespoon semolina or cornmeal
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup thinly-sliced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
Pepper

Prepare the Basic Pizza Dough and set aside to rise. Coat a 14-to-16-inch round pizza pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle semolina or cornmeal evenly over the pan surface.

Punch down the dough and place on a lightly floured work surface and let stand for 5 minutes. With lightly floured hands or rolling pin, pat or roll from the center outward into a 14- or 16-inch circle. Transfer to the prepared pan. Fold the edges to make a rounded border. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for about 15 minutes, or until slightly risen.

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil over the crust. Spread with the back of a spoon. Evenly scatter the garlic, oregano, and salt over the crust. Season to taste with pepper. Drizzle on the remaining 1 tablespoon oil.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Remove and let stand for 5 minutes. Brush any pooled oil over the border of the crust.

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe

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The shaped crust--ready for topping and baking--takes only minutes of hands-on preparation and can be frozen for convenience..

Pizza is happy food that’s fun to make. Sure, carryout pizza is convenient, but are you ever really happy with the inevitable soggy crust?

In just a bit more time than you’d spend waiting for home delivery, you can create your own crusty pie heaped with your favorite toppings. This recipe for a crust baked in a pan is the one to start with when you’re starting to make pizza.

This article is the first in our pizza series to show how easy it is to turn your kitchen into a pizzeria.

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SimpleItaly Loves Chicken

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SimpleItaly Loves Chicken

Enter to win a FREE digital copy of "SimpleItaly Loves Chicken" by posting a comment below.

If you love chicken as much as we do, we hope you’ll check out our first digital cookbook.

This collection includes welcome ideas for family meals as well as inspiration for more special occasions. Selections range from “Antipasti, Soups, and Salads” to “Pasta and Pizza Dishes” to “Main Dishes.”

How do we love chicken? Here are a few of the ways:

Chicken and Potatoes alla Pizzaiola
Chicken alla Cacciatora
Chicken and Broccoli Raab Pizza
Chicken Polpettine
Pesto Chicken Noodle Soup with Chard

Chicken Rigatoni all'Amatriciana is slightly spicy and totally satisfying. You'll find the recipe in "SimpleItaly Loves Chicken."

The e-book is available for purchase online at the Barnes & Noble Nook store and the amazon Kindle store.

To celebrate the launch, we’re giving away a free digital copy to a SimpleItaly reader. Just leave a comment below to enter the sweepstakes. (Comments must be posted by midnight March 6, 2012.) A winner will be randomly chosen and notified by e-mail. The digital book will be sent to the winner by e-mail.

Polenta all’Arrabiata

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I shake my head when I see Italian polenta on a menu or magazine article presented as some exotic gourmet dish. Where I came from (that would be the wilds of central Pennsylvania) cornmeal boiled in water is cornmeal mush. Has been for a long time. American writer Joel Barlow wrote a mock-epic poem about this humble daily staple. As a New Englander, he knew the porridge as hasty pudding.

Thee the soft nations round the warm Levant
Palanta call, the French of course Polante;
E’en in thy native regions how I blush
To hear the Pennsylvanians call thee Mush!
On Hudson’s banks, while men of Belgic spawn
Insult and eat thee by the name suppawn.
All spurious appellations; void of truth:
I’ve better known thee from my earliest youth,
Thy name is Hasty-Pudding!

The Hasty-Pudding, Joel Barlow, 1793

Italy didn’t have corn, of course, until Columbus brought it back from the Americas. While the habit of eating fresh corn never really caught on among Italians, cooking the ground dried kernels did. Generations of Italian peasants survived on polenta. I once interviewed an American woman whose father had grown up in the Veneto. His family ate polenta three times a day. On good days, a few pieces of salami or cheese might accompany the porridge.

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