Saturday, March 8, 2008

"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 :-)

9 comments:

Bob Bush said...

I love the way that you made the pizza to look like slices of a SAD pizza. Every recipe I've seen talks about making round crusts, and then cutting into wedges. The way you've done it is really so simple, but takes it to the next level. I wish I would have started doing it that way a long time ago! Thank you!

shannonmarie said...

No problem. Glad you liked it.

Charis said...

I know exactly what you mean! I've been wanting to make a real pizza! You know! All the recipe ones I've tried have fallen flat and boring. I commend you for making it. Oh, and now you really need to share the recipe or you'll never hear the end of it!

Heather Pace said...

haha. its so funny that we both posted about pizza this morning!!!!

1 Raw Girl said...

Wow, that looks delish! What did it taste like? what did you love most and least about it and was it pretty easy to make? Did you warm the veggies? When I master the Raw Pizza my 3 boys will be in heaven!

Looks truly Yummy:)

Charis said...

I tagged you! Because we all want to know more about you, lovely Shannonmarie!

Check out my blog for details!

shannonmarie said...

Charissa, I'll share the recipe the next time I post. Today, I just responded to your tag.

Heathy, that's funny that we both posted about pizza at the same time. Yours looks wonderful.

By the way, I tagged you, too.

Hey raw girl, the pizza still didn't taste exactly like its cooked counterpart, but fairly similar. It was thicker than other crusts I've tried. It also was soft (not crunchy like a cracker), yet could be picked up in your hand (isn't that what makes it pizza?).

I'll post the recipe when I have a chance. And yes, I did warm the veggies in my dehydrator.

April said...

This looks great! Thanks for continuing to inspire all of us!

shannonmarie said...

You're welcome :-)