"That's Amore"

My hubby was never one to sing for his supper (much less carry a tune), but from time to time, I catch him belting out this Dean Martin classic. Although he seldom gets the lyrics right, he does manage to get through the first few lines correctly.

"When the moon hits your eye,
like a big-a pizza pie,
that's amore"

Pizza pie. Yum. Now, that is amore, especially when served to your loved ones as part of this week's Thursday Night Raw.

Matthew has been suggesting pizza since we started this tradition (if I can call it that; it's only been a couple months in the making.) I would've made it sooner, but I needed some time to come up with something to suit his particular tastes.

However, instead of taking all this time to formulate a recipe to knock his socks off (actually he takes them off as soon as he walks in the door, so I guess that wasn't really necessary), I just kept making excuses to put it on the back burner until he hopefully stopped asking for it.

I'll admit it; I was afraid of failure. Raw pizza may resemble pizza in many ways, but it was never going to fool anyone into thinking it was its cooked counterpart. I mean, even some of the cooked versions are highly criticized.

But, in the end, I decided to be brave, take the plunge into the deep end (no, I didn't make a deep dish variety; but I may try it in the future) and hopefully come up for that breath of fresh air.

I can breath freely again, knowing that I've tackled this task somewhat successfully. Matthew said it was "edible," which in his words, translates to agreeing with him. He rarely gets excited over any meal, raw or cooked, so when he cleans his plate, it's a big deal.

At the last minute (make that the night before), I decided to make my own crust, using ingredients and techniques that already had been Matthew approved. I shaped the pizza dough into individual triangular slices (after the "baking" process, they can easily be picked up to eat), and added a surprise inside (check out the stuffed crust).

I also made some raw vegan pepperoni slices (now that doesn't sound right), Italian sausage crumbles (also raw and vegan), "cooked" (make that dehydrated) veggie toppings (onions, green peppers and mushrooms), a tomato sauce and a macadamia/cashew-based "cheese" (which could be drizzled on top with a squeeze bottle for that melted effect).

The stage was set for our pizza making premiere, where my hubby and I could construct our own masterpieces. Jacob opted for a cooked meal instead (but had raw fruit for dessert), which leaves one more blank canvas (in this case, crust) for you. Have fun :-)