Yes, sir! My sister challenged me to a Pizza Throwdown. And it wouldn't be like me not to accept.
So this past weekend, we met up at my Mother's house, secret recipes and ingredients in hand.
It. Was. On. Eat your heart out Bobby Flay!
Mom and Chris were to be judges- and we would all eat the entries for dinner, with wine of course.
Sis never actually revealed her exact recipe- so the info I have is from sight and info that my mom has sneaked me about her pie.
Some basic notes first.
1. We both used already-made dough bought from our local store, which is above average.
2. We used a pizza stone to cook the dough.
Sister's Pizza
Newman's Own Tomato Sauce
Sliced Red Peppers
Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Lots of Chopped Basil
Sliced Mushrooms
A blend of Goat, Mozzerella, and two other *mystery* cheeses
*VS*
My Pizza
Smashed Grape Tomatoes
Red Pepper Flakes
Fresh Garlic
Baby Arugula
Kalamata Olives
Salt and Pepper
Shaved Pecorino-Romano Cheese
Good Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar for drizzling
Some tasting notes:
** My sister's dough was excellent!! She is an awsome dough-thrower, she would put any Italian pizza thrower to shame! She literally slams the dough onto the counter about 30 times to get the air out and then takes it in her hands and stretches it, round and round until the disk is large enough. Her whole process took about 30 minutes, but her dough was as impressive as her skills.
I could shoot myself for not getting pictures of how cute she was making the dough. They would have made a great addition to this post.
** My dough was horrible. A downright hot mess! Chris usually rolls our dough and yes we use a rolling pin- but since he was under the weather, and didn't want to contaminate the pizza, the rolling duty was left to me. Big Mistake. After struggling to morph the dough into any recognizable shape- the cavalry (my sis) had to come in and save me. It took her several more tries to rescue my dough and by the time she did, I am afraid it was overworked and tough.
** Both pizzas tasted very good. Both judges agreed that they were too different to judge in the same category. If you like your pizza crunchy, healthy and light- like a salad on a crust, then you would like mine. If you like your pizza crust a little softer, but loaded with bold flavors and cheesy, then you would like my sister's.
Honestly, I liked them both. Very much. But for very different reasons. The judges called it a tie.
If I had to pick, I would have picked my sisters, especially because of the crust. But I will surely make mine again. And again.
Which do you think you would pick? What's on your favorite Pizza?