My dinner - 95% homemade pizza

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

The 5% is because I used canned tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes. Anyone who lives in tokyo knows why

As a Muslim, I can't eat any pork/pig-related products. Rules are fairly similar to keeping Kosher - and this is generally an annoyance outside of certain small areas of Japan since most people aren't very careful about mixing pork with beef. (there was a criminal court case about this just a few days ago). As a result, I often do my own cooking, for better or worse.

As I have said all-too-often, Japanese pizzas are awful, terrible, et cetra. Olives are at a premium - and are my favourite ingredient to boot. As a result, I had to learn to make my own. Originally I used store-bought bread, but I took a chance a few days ago and made some flat bread of my own. I used the recipe here:

http://ifoods.blogspot.com/2007/03/e...at-breads.html

Very good starter on making bread.



This bread is a bit sweet - great for dipping sauces but not ideal for pizza, as I would find out



I greased the platter with a very small amount of extra-virgin olive oil and took the bread (which I had flattened beforehand) and spread it across this. On top I added some homemade tomato sauce (basically - fry onions and ginger, add whole tomatoes, crush in pot, add thyme and blend together after simmering for a few minutes, add some spices and then simmer for 1 hour), and various vegetables. I tried going for a little geometry here, I normally don't bother.



I added tomatoes, green peppers, paprika, mushrooms, green olives, pepper, pepper, onions and cheese. I have Halal (which is to say Islamic Kosher) chicken that I could have used. (Usually when I do, I soak it in pepper and lemon juice after defrosting/skinning and chopping into cubes).

I put this in the oven for about 20 minutes at 220 degrees (Celcius, about 430 F). The pizza top was ready before the bread itself - the bread took about 5 minutes extra. In the future I would probably just bake the bread first for a bit and then add the toppings before continuing.

End result:



The pizza was good, but not great. In short, it was not spicy enough and the bread was too sweet. I wish I had used Chicken in retrospect, it would have added some much needed flavour. Instead of using chilli powder in the tomato sauce I should have used jalapeno powder - it would have been tastier as a result. The cheese was also let-down - I should have gone with pure mozzarella, but it is not really available readily in Japan in quantities that I can use on Pizza. The bread in the crust just didn't have the right taste to go with the toppings - in the future I will put some crushed sesame seeds or pepper/olives directly into the crust while preparing it.

[thelefteyeguy]

that looks like lots of cleanup...looks great tho

do they sell rising crust pizza in toyko? cause it's 8$ (retail) ...too much work for me to make it from scratch

[TenzoR]

that looks like lots of cleanup...looks great tho

do they sell rising crust pizza in toyko? cause it's 8$ (retail) ...too much work for me to make it from scratch

But homemade pizza taste so much better and you can add a lot more toppings to it

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

that looks like lots of cleanup...looks great tho

do they sell rising crust pizza in toyko? cause it's 8$ (retail) ...too much work for me to make it from scratch

They do - but due to my dietary restrictions I afford buying them. Often times there is weird stuff in it, and they rarely offer vegetarian pizzas. (Confuses me, as this is a Buddhist/Shintoist country after all).

[deep]

Great looking pizza, especially considering the crap that passes for pie in Tokyo. I hope things have changed drastically, as pizza in Japan was a seafoody, corny mess.

Good work! (And nice stove, for Japan too....I would have killed for a convection oven!)

[kuqdew]

Your from japan?

[Siefer999]

Your from japan?

i think he is just living there for now.

[bembol]

Looks great, enjoy!

[ItemFinder]

Did you grow the peppers yourself? Did you raise a cow, milk it and coagulate it to make cheese? If not, then it's less than 95%.

[Jokez Guy]

looooks prety tasty!

[Brandon]

But homemade pizza taste so much better and you can add a lot more toppings to it

I normally add more cheese, spices and toppings to frozen pizzas. That way it's much easier with little cleanup, plus you get the benefit of more toppings!

[yao416]

mmmm makes me hungryyy

[Cacti]

Would be perfect if you left it in the oven for another 5 - 10 minutes.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

Would be perfect if you left it in the oven for another 5 - 10 minutes.

Actually the final pizza you see is not the final one - it was left in the oven another 10 minutes. I will put up another picture later I guess, when I find the time.

Thank you all for your kind comments and suggestions

[almostfreeman]

The 5% is because I used canned tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes. Anyone who lives in tokyo knows why

Ok, I don't live in Tokyo. I'm curious, what's the secret about fresh tomatoes there? They are $50 bucks a piece?