Sunday, February 28, 2010

Deep Dish Part Deux


Deep Dish Deux

So I gave the Deep Dish another shot and had much better results, but still have a little room for improvement. I bought a Deep Dish Pan, tweaked the recipe a little bit, and did not cook it quite as long. Crust turned out a lot better this time, but needs a little more flavor and needs to taste a little more “buttery.” I reduced the amount of sausage to two links and its was the perfect amount. For cheese I used the 7 ounces of provolone again, but also added about 4-5 ounces of mozzarella as well, which turned about to be a pretty good mix. Also had pepperoni, green pepper, and mushroom in there. Sauce stayed the same. Here’s the dough formula…

Flour (100%): 206.47 g | 7.28 oz | 0.46 lbs

Water (47%): 97.04 g | 3.42 oz | 0.21 lbs

IDY (.4%): 0.83 g | 0.03 oz | 0 lbs | 0.27 tsp | 0.09 tbsp

Salt (1%): 2.06 g | 0.07 oz | 0 lbs | 0.43 tsp | 0.14 tbsp

Olive Oil (5%): 10.32 g | 0.36 oz | 0.02 lbs | 2.29 tsp | 0.76 tbsp

Corn Oil (18%): 37.16 g | 1.31 oz | 0.08 lbs | 8.26 tsp | 2.75 tbsp

Butter/Margarine (1%): 2.06 g | 0.07 oz | 0 lbs | 0.44 tsp | 0.15 tbsp

Total (172.4%): 355.95 g | 12.56 oz | 0.78 lbs | TF = 0.126875

AP= 80%= 165

Semolina= 20%= 41

Next time I will increase the salt a little, increase the butter, and decrease the corn oil. I think I’ll also use less semolina next time.

On a related note, I picked up by Deep Dish Pan from a restaurant supply store. I highly recommend going to one some time. Wide variety of products at good prices and most are open to the general public. The one in Cincinnati is www.wasserstrom.com

Green Bean and Mushroom Saute


Green Bean and Mushroom Sauté

Here’s a nice little side that I like to make. Goes pretty well with just about anything.

Ingredients

Green Beans

Diced Onion

Sliced Mushrooms

Cherry tomatoes

Garlic

Chicken Stock

Olive oil

Lemon Juice

Salt and Pepper

Procedure

  1. Blanch the green beans for about five minutes in lightly salted boiling water then put them in ice water to cool.
  2. Sauté the onions for a couple minutes, then add the mushrooms for a couple minutes, then the green beans for a couple minutes, then the garlic and halved cherry tomatoes and sauté for about another 30 secs, don’t want to sauté the tomatoes for too long or they will turn to mush.
  3. Add about ¼ cup or so of chicken stock and continue to let the mix simmer for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Finish with a squeeze of lemon at the end and some chopped parsley.
  5. Voila! Green bean and mushroom sauté.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

POZOLE ROJO WITH HOMEMADE FLOUR TORILLAS













This pulled pork and hominy stew from Mexico is one of my favorites. I order a turkey version from a local joint here in Indy called "Yats." No need to worry for you out of towners because this version is better than any pozole I've ordered out. Pulled this recipe from my go to cook book: "The Best New Recipe" by Cook's Illustrated. It turned out excellent! I recommend a nice margarita to wash it all down. This was also my first attempt at making homemade flour tortillas. I watch a lot of PBS these days, and Rick Bayless has a superb mexican cooking show. He made his with pork lard, but much to my dismay I couldn't find any at the store, so I had to substitute crisco. Once I find some lard I will cook them again and post the recipe. (fyi: they were still very tasty using crisco, but I'm predicting they will be out of this world with pork lard)

POZOLE ROJO

STEW:

1 Bone-in Picnic Shoulder Roast (about 5 lbs.)
Salt / Pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium-large onions, chopped coarse
5 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 oz. dried ancho chiles (about 3 large)
1 ½ cups boiling water
3 (15-oz) cans white or yellow hominy, drained and rinsed

GARNISHES:

Lime
Romaine Lettuce, sliced into thin strips
Radishes, sliced thin
Onion, minced
Cilantro
Hot Sauce

Serve with flour or corn torillas, warmed

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Move oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Trim the thick skin and excess fat from the meat and cut along the muscles to divide the roast into large pieces of various sizes; reserve the bones. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper.
2) Heat oil in large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium heat; add the onions and some salt. Cook until onions have softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3) Add the meat and bones and stir often until it is no longer pink on the outside, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, broth, and some salt. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. With a large spoon, skim off any scum. Cover the pot and place it in the oven. Cook until the meat is very tender, about 2 hours.
4) Meanwhile, remove the stems and seeds from the ancho chiles; soak the chiles in a medium bowl with the boiling water until soft, about 20 minutes. Puree the chiles and soaking liquied in a blender until smooth. Pour the puree through into a bowl.
5) Remove the pot from the oven and remove the meat and bones to a cutting board. Stir in the hominy and the ancho chile puree. Cover and bring the stew to a simmer on top of the stove over medium-low heat. Cook until the hominy is hot and the flavors meld, about 30 minutes.
6) When the meat is cool, shred it using your fingers or the tines of 2 forks; discard the bones. Stir the shredded meat and simmer until the meat is hot. Adjust the seasoning. Ladle the stew into individual bowls and serve immediately with the garnishes.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

First Deep Dish


Deep Dish

So here is my first go at a deep dish. It was edible the crust was not so good. It looks really good in the pictures, but the texture was all wrong. Deep dish dough in theory is a lot easier than traditional pizza dough. You basically just mix all the salt, yeast, water, and 80% of the flour together, wait 20mins, then add in the remaining flour and the oil, mix to combine, and boom- Deep Dish Dough. Here is the dough formula I used.

Flour (100%): 204.01 g | 7.2 oz | 0.45 lbs

Water (48%): 97.92 g | 3.45 oz | 0.22 lbs

IDY (.4%): 0.82 g | 0.03 oz | 0 lbs | 0.27 tsp | 0.09 tbsp

Salt (.5%): 1.02 g | 0.04 oz | 0 lbs | 0.21 tsp | 0.07 tbsp

Olive Oil (5%): 10.2 g | 0.36 oz | 0.02 lbs | 2.27 tsp | 0.76 tbsp

Corn Oil (18%): 36.72 g | 1.3 oz | 0.08 lbs | 8.16 tsp | 2.72 tbsp

Total (171.9%): 350.69 g | 12.37 oz | 0.77 lbs | TF = 0.125

Semolina 20% = 41 g

AP 80% = 163 g

Per the instructions, 20% of the total flour was Semolina. This was enough dough to make one 9in pie, with the crust going 1.5in up the sides. I cold fermented mine in the fridge over night, and then gave it two hours at room temperature to come up to 60 degrees or so. I greased up a spring form pan and pushed the dough in.

First I layered the provolone. I used 7 ounces, and think that next time I will use that plus some mozzarella. Then went the sausage. The technique is basically to make a thin patty of raw mild Italian. I used 4 links and it was too much, next time I’ll try 3, or possibly 2. Next was a layer of pepperoni. Then some chopped green peppers and red onion. Topped that all off with some chunky sauce that was made from 1 can of 6 in 1 tomatoes, that I drained most of the water out of. I added some honey, garlic power, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and olive oil. The sauce actually turned out really well and was probably the best part of the pizza. Topped that with some grated parmesan and into a 450 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. It was a good first effort, but still needs some work.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Sushi Fridays






Since Leeann is Catholic, she can't eat meat for the next few Fridays until Easter. So we have instituted "Sushi Fridays" in our house. Presented here you will find a spicy shrimp roll, crab and avocado roll, and a squid roll. I made a topping of toasted panko bread crumbs and eel sauce for a few of the rolls. Since we all know sushi and what goes in the rolls, I will only post the recipe for the eel sauce, which turned out great. The toasted panko bread crumbs were a very nice addition, providing a nice crunchy contrast to the rolls.

Eel Sauce:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions: Pour in a saucepan and reduce by half. Boom....eel sauce.

Pappa al Pomodoro: Tuscan Bread Soup with Mussels (Guest Post by Leeann)





Ingredients:
2 cans peeled San Marzano tomatoes – lightly crushed by hand
2 loaves ciabatta - crusts peeled off and very, very stale
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped jalepeno
1 big can chicken stock
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Splash of red wine
Lots of basil
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan – a chunk for grating and the rind for the soup (We omitted the grated parm because of my "Lenten promise.")

Preparation:
Have all your vegetables chopped and bread sliced into 1-inch cubes.

Heat about 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. When hot, add onions, garlic and jalepeno. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender.

Add the tomatoes and remaining juice, salt and pepper, parm rind if you’re using one and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and let it cook for a half hour or so.

Add ciabatta cubes and let the bread soak up some tomato, then start adding your stock. It’ll need a lot so just sort of eye-ball it. Continue adding stock to your desired consistency. At this point, we added a healthy shot of red wine, along with a ton of basil, and seasoned again with salt and pepper. (Also added thyme and oregano.)

Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, then allow to simmer for a bit. Then toss in a pound of mussels, cover, and allow the mussels to open up, about 5 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and grate with some parmesan cheese if you didn't give up cheese for Lent (and regret it!). Top with some more basil and olive oil. Enjoy!

Who remembers these guys?


Guacachips!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Comment Section

I like the comment section, but is there a way to have it displayed on the side. I think it would create more conversation opposed to only having comments attached to each post. Once you have a couple of posts the conversation will fall off the radar. Just a thought.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Red Pepper Jelly

I had to buy red pepper jelly for my rootbeer bourbon wing recipe. Anybody have any suggestions for how else to use it?

Monday, February 15, 2010

Chocolate Covered Rasberries with filling

I wanted to make a different spin of "chocolate covered strawberries" and decided to use rasberries and stuff them with peanut butter chips, toffee, or frozen whip cream.
Chocolate Covered Rasberries with Filling

Melt down semi sweet chocolate in a bowl over boiling water (I also added toffee and peanut butter chips to the chocolate for the strawberries and pretzals)
Stuff rasberries with favorite filling (peanut butter chips, toffee, whip cream etc.)
If using whip cream, make sure it is frozen and you fill them right before you dip them in chocolate. If you wait too long it will melt and won't work with the melted chocolate
Put on wax paper and put in freezer until they set and then move to refrig and enjoy.

Valentine's Day Turf and Surf


I am now an official "culinary blogger" as Urban would call it. After being harrassed from fellow bloggers this weekend for not posting food, I decided to post our Valentines day meal. I made bacon wrapped filets with homemade sushi and chocolate covered rasberries with peanut butter, toffee, or whip cream fillings.

Since we have about a foot of snow grilling was out of the question, I seared the filets in a pan with purified butter and garlic cloves. To finish I put them in the broiler on high for a couple of minutes until they had a nice pink center.


The sushi was my first experiment with preparing it myself. Overall it was a success, but I will need more practice with the "rolling" of the sushi. We went the traditional route with a combination of Ahi, Mahi Mahi, seedless cucumbers, cream cheese, and avocado.














Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Southern Hospitality


Southern Hospitality

Snow day number two for me today, well, yesterday work was open, but I took a personal day, but today the agency was closed J Anyway, here’s a straight southern meal for ya. I made Bobby Flay’s Ribs from this video- http://www.foodnetwork.com/indoor-grilling-guide/package/index.html They turned out pretty good, not great, but good. And for my sides I made Tyler Florence’s Collard Greens from here- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/slow-cooked-collard-greens-recipe/index.html Except I used bacon instead of ham hocks and I added some crushed red pepper. Really delicious greens. And rounded it off with some of the leftover mac and cheese I made for the super bowl which was bacon, roux, milk, about 5 cups of cheddar/Monterey jack, 4 eggs, some butter, 1 lbs of macaroni all added into a casserole dish and topped with more Monterey jack and parmesan. Pretty tasty, but I think I prefer some creamy stove top mac and cheese.

The 2010 Sever-Storey, LLP Wing Throwdown!

For the Super Bowl the guys from work and I decided to have a wing "throwdown," Bobby Flay style. Thought I would share the results with everyone.

Competitor #1: Tonny (not sure if it was technically legal to show up with two different kinds of wings and also be an hour late for the competition - but I was told "that's how Tonny rolls" - so no challenge was made)



Competitor #2: Phil



Competitor #3: Chris



Competitor #4: Matt



And the winner was ................. drum roll please ....................... Phil "The Kid" Sever! Not sure if that is really his nickname or Sailor Jerry made it up on the spot in the midst of celebration, but, regardless, they were delicious wings and well deserving of the title. Actually, all of the wings were excellent and I felt horrible the entire next day because I ate so many. I encourage all of you to have wing throwdowns in the future. The winning recipe is posted below for your enjoyment. I'm told that instead of using the thai dipping sauce as a dip to instead baste the wings in it or toss the wings with it.

Uncle Bubba's Wings
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
• 3 pounds chicken wings
• 1 1/2 cups hot Sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Cajun spice
• 1/2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 3/4 tablespoon garlic powder
• Oil, for frying
• Buffalo Sauce, recipe follows
• Thai Dipping Sauce, recipe follows
Directions
Combine hot sauce, and Cajun spice, pepper and garlic powder. Mix well and cover wings. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Heat oil in a deep fryer or deep sided pot to 350 degrees F.
Remove wings from marinade and drain off excess moisture. Add wings carefully and in batches to hot oil, it splatters. Cook until crispy about 10 minutes. Serve with dipping sauces.

Buffalo sauce:
8 tablespoons softened butter
8 tablespoons hot sauce
Combine butter and hot sauce. Whisk until blended.

Thai Dipping Sauce:
1 cup Sweet Chili Sauce (available at Asian Markets or in Asian aisle of supermarket)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Mix chili and soy sauce until well blended.

Homemade Gyros!!






Who knew that homemade gyros could be so easy to make and turn out absolutely delicious? Answer: Andy Urban, because he recommended this recipe to me. I'm guessing he was going to post it the next time he made them, but I couldn't resist putting it up myself and sharing these wonderful gyros from Alton Brown. If we only knew about this recipe in college would could have saved ourselves somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000 in late night gyros! Oh....but we would have missed all those wonderful memories........pretty sure they were wonderful??..??

Gyro Meat with Tzatziki Sauce
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005
Prep Time:
30 min
Cook Time:
1 hr 15 min

Ingredients
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped or shredded
• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried marjoram
• 1 tablespoon dried ground rosemary
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Tzatziki Sauce, recipe follows
Directions
Process the onion in a food processor for 10 to 15 seconds and turn out into the center of a tea towel. Gather up the ends of the towel and squeeze until almost all of the juice is removed. Discard juice.
Return the onion to the food processor and add the lamb, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, salt, and pepper and process until it is a fine paste, approximately 1 minute. Stop the processor as needed to scrape down sides of bowl.
To cook in the oven as a meatloaf, proceed as follows:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the mixture into a loaf pan, making sure to press into the sides of the pan. Place the loaf pan into a water bath and bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until the mixture reaches 165 to 170 degrees F. Remove from the oven and drain off any fat. Place the loaf pan on a cooling rack and place a brick wrapped in aluminum foil directly on the surface of the meat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F. Slice and serve on pita bread with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, tomatoes and feta cheese.
To cook on a rotisserie, proceed as follows:
Form the meat mixture into a loaf shape and place on top of 2 overlapping pieces of plastic wrap that are at least 18 inches long. Roll the mixture in the plastic wrap tightly, making sure to remove any air pockets. Once the meat is completely rolled in the wrap, twist the ends of the plastic wrap until the surface of the wrap is tight. Store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to overnight, to allow the mixture to firm up.
Preheat the grill to high.
Place the meat onto the rotisserie skewer. Place a double-thick piece of aluminum foil folded into a tray directly under the meat to catch any drippings. Cook on high for 15 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium and continue to cook for another 20 to 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees F. Turn off the heat and allow to continue to spin for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees. Slice and serve on pita bread with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, tomatoes, and feta cheese.


Tzatziki Sauce:
16 ounces plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
Pinch kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
5 to 6 mint leaves, finely minced

Place the yogurt in a tea towel, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Rootbeer Bourbon Glazed Wings




For the super bowl we busted out the smoker and put these wings in there for about 2 hours. All I needed was a glaze to coat them. Thank you Emeril. I found this glaze on foodnetork.com, and it worked nicely. The smoking added a nice touch but you could easily grill or bake them.

As for the plethora of flavors, I didn't get a big bourbon flavor, so I would maybe increase that in the future. I also added 2 Thai bird chilies for some heat (I'll put some more in next time). The rootbeer I used was Virgil's microbrewed (whole foods, glad I had a couple extras to drink) and I actually found the Pick-A-Peppa sauce at world market (which by the way is a great place to buy spices). This recipe made about 40 wings and there was glaze left over.

Glaze:
2 (12-ounce) cans/bottles root beer
2 tablespoons hot pepper jelly
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons steak sauce (recommended: Emeril's Steak Sauce)
1 teaspoon Caribbean Pick-A-Peppa sauce
6 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 teaspoons bitters (recommended: Angostura)
1 cup bourbon
1 cup sugar
2 thai bird chilies

Method:

To make the glaze, place all of the ingredients for the glaze in a 6-quart pot or larger, and cook over medium-high heat. Bring the contents of the pot to a boil, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture has come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and allow the mixture to reduce to a glaze consistency, about 25 to 30 minutes longer. Remove the glaze from the stove and strain though a fine mesh strainer. Reserve and keep warm, until ready to use.

Toss cooked wings in glaze and broil for 1-2 minutes while watching. These will burn quickly.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I'll give you one guess...



Double Post City


Guess what? I made Pizza last night, crazy huh? It turned out really well. I used my basic dough recipe with a couple small tweaks. For my sauce I bloomed the garlic and red pepper in EVOO and added an Italian seasoning mix that I got, with a little extra oregano. I mixed that with a can of 6 in 1 crushed tomatoes. 6 in 1 tomatoes are really great, next time you make something that calls for crushed tomatoes you should pick some up. The Biggs by me has them in the Italian section, but I hear they can be a little hard to find. I used a combination of pre-shredded and fresh Mozz. I made a meaty topper and veggie. The mead had sliced pepperoni and mild Italian sausage under the cheese, and some big chunks of bacon on top. The veggie had spinach under the cheese, and chopped green bell pepper and thinly sliced mushroom on top.


Baked Rigatoni

So I made some pretty tasty Baked Rigatoni with Italian sausage and Portabellas. I made the whole dish in the Dutch Oven, except for the boiling of the rigatoni. Be aware that if you make this you will have MASS leftovers and if you don’t give them away you will surely be eating baked rigatoni for a couple weeks.

Ingredients

1 box rigatoni

4 links sweet Italian sausage

3 portabella mushroom caps

1 medium onion

1 carrot

1-2 stalks celery

3 cloves garlic

1-2 tbls tomato paste

½ cup red wine (I had Chianti)

1 14 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (crushed by hand)

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 package fresh basil

8 slices provolone

¼ cup shredded asiago

EVOO

Crushed red pepper

Salt and Pep

Method

I browned the whole links in the Dutch oven with a little oil. I browned them whole because I wanted to have chunks of sausage in the dish. After I removed the links I then browned the sliced portabellas and removed them. Next the meirpoix, with a pretty rough chop because I wanted large pieces of veggies. In hind sight I wish I would have added some chopped Red Bell Pepper as well. After sautéing off the veggies and I added the garlic and the tomato paste for a few secs, then I deglazed with the Chianti and had plenty of fabulous bits to scrape up from the sausage. After the wine reduced I added the broken up whole tomatoes and crushed tomatoes, some salt and pep. I let the sauce cook for about 30 minutes or so while I boiled the rigatoni separately. I shut off the heat and to the sauce I added the cooked rigatoni, the chunks of sausage, the browned mushrooms, and an entire pack of basil that I just tore by hand into large pieces. Mixed that all together then topped with the cheese and some EVOO. I put the lid on and into a 400 degree oven for 15-20 mins, then I took the lid off for about 10 mins to brown it up. Turned out really good, the best part was the “smokiness” of the provolone. J

Friday, February 5, 2010

Ahi Poke







We made sushi tonight and made some delicious rolls. However, our favorite dish of the night was some ahi poke (po-key) that we recreated from our trip to Hawaii, so thats the recipe thats going up. I also included some pictures of the sushi rolls. We used brown rice for the first time and it worked well but takes about an hour to make. We also made masago for the first time which was okay, but probably wont make it again. Here are all the rolls we made:

Urban Roll: Tuna, Avacado, Cream Cheese, Carrots, Siraccha, Sesame Oil

Spicy Tuna: Tuna, Cucumber, Avacado

Beth's Philly Roll: Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, Cucumbers, Carrots


Ahi Poke

Ingredients:

8oz. Ahi Tuna
2 green onions sliced thin
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro*
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon Sesame oil
1 teaspoon Crushed red pepper
salt or soy sauce to taste
sesame seeds for garnish

Method:
Dice ahi into small 1/8 inch cubes. Combine oil, crushed red pepper, ginger, cilantro, and green onions in a bowl. Add tuna and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Add salt or soy sauce before serving.

Note: Poke can be served by itself, in a lettuce cup, or on a cracker (or in a sweet ass star shaped mold as pictured) It should also be served with an ice cold Asahi.

*if you happen to have fresh Hawaiian seaweed (Ogo) use that, or let me know where you find it in Ohio.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Whoever posted The Kitchn on to our website list owes me 10 hours of my life back....damn you

Last weeks Pizza





I made pizza again last Friday. The dough turned out really well, I'm getting pretty good with stretching it and what not. I was a little dissapointed overall though. I used a different kind of cheese, which I do not think was as good, and I used different tomatoes for my sauce, that were a little too watery. The sauce was good though on it's own. I heated some EVOO, then I added a boatload of garlic and some chili flake and the oregano to "bloom" the flavors. Mixed that with the tomato puree, some salt, sugar, and some fresh basil. Made it a couple days before to let the flavor come together. I'll be making this style again next week cause Kristin's step dad is coming over, then I'll be switching to DEEP DISH.