Market Meals: Homemade Pizza Is Amore!

Photo by María Helena Carey, who is hungry, again.

So you’re probably shuttered today, sore and achy from unearthing your sidewalk, your car, and possibly even the nearest fire hydrant (if you’re a Good Samaritan type– not judging here).

You’re hungry but you don’t feel like getting takeout.
Your’e starving, but your pantry appears before you, boring and jéjune.
You want easy, cheesy comfort food.
And, just to up the ante of horror, let’s say you have children who need to be distracted; because, as much as you love them, the kids’ day with a lack of routine is like a Molotov cocktail: elegant in its deadly simplicity.
My suggestion? Make a pizza!

Chances are, you have most of the ingredients: most people keep tomato sauce and some sort of topping around, and you can use french bread as your crust. But also consider that if you are willing to take a little walk, you can have a lavish pizza or pizzas plus a fun activity for the whole family in about an hour.

Here’s your shopping list:

Dough: If you are the very organized baking type, you can always make yours from scratch. If you click on PIZZA DOUGH here, I’ve even entered the search terms: all you need to do is read and rejoice! But around the Hill, places like P&C Market, Mangialardo & Sons, and A. Littieri sell pizza dough that’s ready to use. If you want to skip the kneading and rolling, you can always buy fresh bread at Marvelous Market!

Cheese: Apart from the cheese shop at Eastern Market and its resident love-him-or-leave-him cheese curmudgeon, you can buy amazing gourmet cheeses at P&C. Prego Deli also carries cheeses; or you can hit up your local supermarket of course (naturally) for an excellent selection of everything and anything that can be shredded. If you’re looking for a different taste experience with your pizza, try a dry cheese that melts well; I’ve recently tried cotija cheese and the Nom factor was very, very high.

Sauce: Honestly? Any pasta sauce will do well. If you’re feeling entrepreneurial, you can always crush some canned tomatoes; and if your kids are old enough, you can have food processor 101 in addition to making the pizzas. If you have things like old pesto sauce, garlic paste, sun-dried tomato paste or antipasti in a jar, this is the time to clean up your fridge, too. Hey, why not? Snow-shoveling burns about 200 calories per 30 minutes and let’s face it: you’ve earned it all.

Toppings: As with the other subjects, this is a time to experiment. If you feel like using nothing but things coming out of a can or a jar, go for it! Just remember: green olives get lonely. Clearly, if you open a jar of, you need to mix yourself a dirty Martini. But if you feel like hiking for your toppings, hit Canales for some excellent cured meats! Or you could buy one of those yummy salami sticks available at many of the aforementioned stores.

If you have any suggestions for any of the categories, please speak up in the comments. And whatever you choose to do during these snowy days, may you have fun doing it!