Girls night in

What's better than a girls night in with pizza, brownies and some red wine?  I can't think of a whole lot!

This pizza dough recipe is a staple in our house, and the sauce recipe is courtesy of our friend Sam. 

Pizza crust
     Grade A!  (Easy to make and delicious!)
 Adapted from: Italian, by Kate Whiteman, Jeni Wright, and Angela Boggiano


2 1/2 tsp yeast (or 1 packet - there are all types of yeast, but no need for anything fancy here)
1 cup warm water
pinch sugar (about 1/2 tsp if you must measure)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
A drizzle of canola oil

Place the yeast in a mixing bowl and cover with the warm water and sugar.  Mix with a fork to blend and let sit about 10 minutes.  A nice bubbly head should form over the mixture while the yeast does it's job (i.e. eating the sugar and producing carbon dioxide so your dough will rise). 
After 10 minutes, add the salt (this stops the yeast from fermenting more, giving too much of a yeasty taste to the dough) and 2 cups of flour.  At this point, the dough will be sticky and start to pull away from the bowl.  Apply the last cup of flour liberally to your hands and work surface and work it into the dough.  No need to knead the dough for more than a minute or two - you want it to be no longer sticky and to form a nice ball.  Drizzle a little canola oil in a mixing bowl and spread it around, then plop the dough in the bowl and turn it over once to coat with oil.  The oil will prevent it from sticking to the bowl later.  Cover loosely with saran wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes or so.  You want it to rise, but not quite double in size.

 Sam's marinara sauce
Grade A! (Also very easy to make with a super fresh flavor)
 

1x 28oz can diced tomatoes (or how every many fresh tomatoes you have on hand)
4 cloves garlic cut into slivers (we love our garlic - feel free to use less)
olive oil (about 1 turn of the pan)
thyme (about 1/2 to 1 tsp dried)
basil (about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp dried)
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper flakes (about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp, depending on how much heat you like)


Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat.  Add in the garlic and sweat for a few minutes.  Then add the dried spices and sweat a few more minutes - this oil smells divine while it's gathering the flavors of the garlic and spices.  When the garlic just begins to brown, add the remaining ingredients.  Simmer on medium to medium high for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on how thick you want your sauce.

To make the pizza, stretch the dough out onto a pizza stone that has been dusted with cornmeal.  I know most people might not have this, but it really is key for getting the right crust texture.  But, if you just don't have one, you can use a baking sheet or other metal pizza pans.  The cornmeal is a trick I learned from my mom - keeps the pizza from sticking when you try to cut it later.  I don't think flour works as a replacement in this case.  Top with the marinara sauce and mozarella cheese (we usually use about 3/4 of a large bag of the shredded stuff, part skim).  Then, top with whatever topings you like!  Our favorites are broccoli, onions, garlic, pepperoni, sausage, black olives, and green peppers, often all together!  Bake at 475F for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is beginning to brown.

Thanks to Molly and Andi for making these delicious treats!

Brownies Cockaigne
From: The Joy of Cooking
     Grade: A- (not too hard to make, melting the bakers chocolate takes a little time - the taste is wonderful!)

Make these instead of buying a boxed mix!  You'll never go back!

4 oz unsweetened baker's chocolate
1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
optional: 1 cup nuts (I never use these)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Heat the chocolate and  butter together in a small pan on med-low heat until both are melted.  Let it cool a couple of minutes, then add to the sugar and vanilla.  Mix in the eggs, then the flour, and then the nuts if you're using them.  Now, here's the key: line a 9" x 13" baking pan with aluminum foil, then grease.  Don't skip this step!  I've made them without the aluminum foil and they just don't rise much and are very dense, not to mention they stick like crazy to the pan, even if it's greased.  Bake for at least 25 minutes, then start testing with a toothpick (they're done when it comes out clean).  It will probably take around 35-40 minutes total for these to really be done.