Summer Dinner Party Mix

Friday night we had some fr-amily (that is, friends who just happen to be family) over for dinner. We threw together some deliciously tasty pizza (topped with mozzarella, feta and fresh pineapple), sipped iced white tea with ginger, played a good bit of Six Degrees of Separation and caught up on each other's lives.

Want to recreate a great night like this at your home? You'll need: one batch fresh garlic pizza dough, one batch marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, feta, a pineapple and a great playlist.

Fresh Garlic Pizza Dough (from my friend Jamie)
3 cups flour (give or take)
1.5 tsp salt
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 cup warm water
1 pkg of regular yeast (or if you do an overnight rise, you only need a tsp of yeast
1 Tbsp or so of fresh chopped garlic (feel free to use more--we do!)

Mix 2 cups flour and salt in a bowl. Dissolve yeast in the water and pour into the flour mixture. Add olive oil and garlic and stir until just combined. Dump it all out onto a floured surface, and kneed, adding in the last cup (more or less) until the consistency is right and dough is fully mixed. Then I drizzle some olive oil in a big bowl and slosh the dough ball around in it to keep it moist, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for two hours or so. If you want to get fancy and fabulous, punch it back down and pop it in the fridge over night. The over night rise retards the yeast expansion and lets the flavors really get fabulous. Then pull the dough out of the fridge several hours before using it to let it get pliable again.

We make 2 large, thin crust pizzas out of this. Nathan even throws the dough in the air like a real pizza man for extra flourish!

Marinara sauce (adapted from The Joy of Cooking)
1-28 oz can of tomatoes (I like Muir Glen--already with basil or fire roasted) (You can also use 2 pounds fresh tomatoes)
1/3 cup olive oil
Herbs: basil, oregano, chili peppers, etc.

Combine and let simmer 30ish minutes. To make this more like store-bought pizza sauce, you'll need to add some sugar or honey. We don't bother, but you might be drawn to sweet pizza sauces.

Playlist:
Loves Me Like a Rock - Paul Simon
Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out - Cat Stevens
New Soul - Yael Naim
Do You Remember - Jack Johnson
Summer in the City - The Lovin' Spoonful
And When I Die - Blood, Sweat and Tears
Pencil Thin Mustache - Jimmy Buffett
Little Bit O' Soul - The Music Explosion
Louisiana Saturday Night - Mel McDaniel
Too Many Fish in the Sea - Marvelettes
Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
Dancing in the Moonlight - Van Morrison
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
Octopus' Garden - The Beatles
Out of My Head - Fastball
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond