by Michele Falco

Created on: September 25, 2008

Who doesn't love Pizza? The cheese, basil, sauce. The thin crispy crunch when you take that first bite. When it's made right, it really hits the spot. In my opinion it's all about the sauce and the dough. It's fast, cheap, filling, fun to eat and fun to make as well. Why spend $15 bucks on a pie when you can gather up fresh ingridients yourself. I love pizza. Eating it reminds me of when I would get together with friends and just stop at the local pizza parlor for a slice and a coke. Now almost every Sunday my husband and I go to the Pizzeria and grab a slice and something to drink, sit and enjoy good food and conversation. Those wee the days. On a Friday night, I usually don't cook, but this is so deliscious and filling, I really don't mind making it at all. It doesn't take long and you can add anything you want on top. I got this recipe from my father's wife who always makes it every time we go upstate. She knows we are hungry when we get there. It is the perfect finger food. She cuts it into quarters when it's done, hot and cripsy, so good. This is now my favorite way to make pizza.

Foccacia bread
1 onion-diced
1 red pepper-diced
1 green pepper-diced
4 cloves garlic-chopped
HomeMade Marinara sauce
Grated Cheese-2 palmfulls
Pepperoni (1 stick sliced very thin)
Olive oil
Fresh Basil
Shredded Mozerella Cheese
Pizza pan

Step One: The Sauce: Take a large sauce pot. Add a bit of oilve oil. Take a few cloves of garlic, crush and drop in. Keep the heat on low, you don't want to burn the garlic. Add in 2 cans of crushed tomatoes. Now add a bit of red wine, 1 bay leaf and a few leaves of fresh basil. Add a pinch of sugar to counter act the acid. A bit of salt and pepper to taste. Stir and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat-DO NOT COVER. If the sauce appears watery, add a bit of tomato paste.

Step Two: Take foccacia bread and place onto the pizza pan. Now with a ladel, scoop out the sauce, empty it out onto the foccacia bread and with the back of the ladel, begin to spread evenly. Make sure you cover the entire bread, but do not add to much sauce. It should be a thin layer.

Step Three: Sprinkle on peppers, onions, garlic and grated cheese. Place slices of pepperoni on top. Drizzle on olive oil. Add fresh basil on top.
Now add the shredded Mozerella. Bake on 450 deg for an hour. You want the edges nice and cripsy and golden brown. Enjoy.

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