pizza from the ground up:

Ever since my first foray into making mozzarella cheese, when I found a recipe for making pizza dough using whey left over from the cheese making process, an idea has rumbled around in my head:

What if I could make a pizza completely from scratch?

Cheese that I made myself.
Sauce that I made myself, from things growing in my own garden.
Homemade dough.
Toppings grown in my own garden, as well.

It's like a life-long dream that I didn't even realize I had until six months ago.

And although I can't believe it:

I did it!!!

The feeling of accomplishment is amazing.
I'm so proud I want to cry.

Is it perfect?
No.

But it's very close!

The cheese has sort of a weird texture as the curds were tiny and wet, and I couldn't get them to stretch properly. It's kind of a cross between a milky ricotta and a melty mozzarella. Which, as it turns out, is absolutely delicious on pizza.

It took forever to cook due to the moisture in the tomatoes, so the border crust was nicely browned before the center was even sort of done. I ended up tenting all but the center in foil, cranking the oven temp to 450 f, and cooking for 30 minutes longer than recommended.

Due to the cooking time and consistency, the cheese was a lovely toasty brown, and so was flipped for the above photo. :-p

But - the bottom line is... It's here. It's here, and I made it, and it's delicious. Delicious! All that cooking time really concentrated the tomato flavor, and the crust is flavorful and crispy (and thoroughly cooked) without being dry.

Pizza Margherita
I. Made. This.