Pizza Friday's

What is it about Friday's that just scream pizza?  I know growing up we often had our pizza day on Friday, and lots of other people do the same thing.  Perhaps it's a celebration of the weekend, to feel good about all the hard work we did during the week.  Whatever it may be, I am happy to make it tradition in our home.

The recipe I chose was Basil Tomato Pizza from the "Mennonite Girls Can Cook" cookbook, a bridal shower gift from my aunt (the baking stone I used was from her too :) ).  I was actually able to find the recipe on their blog, so now you can try the recipe out if you would like!

First, the pizza dough recipe is great!  It makes enough for two medium pizzas, so I put half the dough in the freezer for next week.  Adding a cup of whole wheat flour gives the dough a little more "health" so you're not eating only refined flour.  I also didn't let it rise quite so long (20 minutes) so the dough would be a little thinner.  

It's a white sauce based pizza instead of tomato sauce.  Erik and I don't like tomato sauce pizza as much as a white sauce, so I was happy to try this recipe out even though white sauce means far more calories (it's the weekend!).  There is a lot of chopped fresh basil and garlic, making the sauce more than just something to stick the toppings to.  It becomes a topping!  The only odd part about the sauce is the use of mayo.  I used Veganaisse, a vegan mayo substitute--I still maintain a lot of the habits I picked up over the years I was vegan.  

The rest of the pizza is loads of tomatoes and cheese.  I found some fresh mozzarella on discount because it was going to expire in a few days.  If you ever use fresh mozzarella, try to dry it a little beforehand.  It's full of liquid and will make a huge mess when you're baking the pizza.

All in all, this was a great recipe and will probably do some variation of it again in the future.

Any pizza or other food traditions in your home?