May. Always a hard month to be sure.  Long hours in the garden, tending and planting and yet nothing has quite come to fruit yet.  I look longingly at my little tomato plants, herbs and peppers as I mist them in the early mornings, begging them to grow and bear fruit and be bountiful.  I wander pensively by the fruit trees, watching the blossoms fall, critiquing each branch; is it stable, will it hold the apple, the apricot, the cherries that are yet to come?  It’s a lot of waiting, dreaming, watering and weeding; preparing for what is coming.  Sometimes I simply cannot wait though. I am impatient and I want to have a treat from my little backyard garden. I try to resist but alas, I can only be so strong.  So last Friday night I pulled out the flour, the yeast and warmed the water to the familiar temperature. I mixed and kneaded the dough and set it aside to rise. I wandered the yard as the yeast did the work, turning my head to the sun leaning into its warm embrace.  I lay on the grass and watched the sun set and the birds come to roost nearby, singing the hour by quickly.  I came in and cut the round warm dough into two, set one in the fridge for another day and started rolling out the dough. I rolled, I tossed, and I stretched it into a circle and lay it gently on cornmeal.  I pulled the penultimate jar of last year’s tomatoes from the pantry shelf, popped the top, mashed a few down with some salt and spread it on the pie. Then outside I went; scissors in hand and a smile on my face.  I snipped my little herbs, leaf buy little leaf. The purple oval of the sage, the shaggy flat parsley, the tiny oregano, the tinier thyme, the Genovese basil and the Thai basil.  I walked inside holding them in my hands like jewels and spread them on top of crimson red sauce.  Then to the fridge for some fresh burrata and parmesan to finish it off before into the oven it went and 12 minutes later: the first bite, hard work and satisfaction to be sure, went down bite after bite and in my stomach grew the excitement of what was to come.

Pizza Dough – You will need:

• 3 ½ cups bread flour – plush more for kneading
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 ¼ cups water – at 115 – 95 degrees
• 1 pouch active yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil – plus more for rising

How to:

• Mix dry ingredients together and pour in warm water slowly, until dough combines knead in kitchen aid or on floured surface for about 5 minutes
• Place in oiled bowl in a warm place a let rise for 1 hour
• Separate into two half’s, rub with olive oil and let sit for another 10 minutes
• Preheat oven to 500
• Roll out one half of dough on a floured surface
• Throw and pull dough until it reaches about a 14-inch circle
• Repeat with second ball or refrigerate for up to one week – freeze for 3 months
• Add toppings of your choice or
• Mash three canned, stewed tomatoes with salt and spread on the dough
• Slice burrata and grate parmesan and arrange on top of sauce
• Add clippings of herbs – oregano, thyme, basil, sage and parsley
• Place completed pie on a pizza stone or baking sheet with a light covering of cornmeal underneath
• Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown

To having patience when you need to and satisfying your cravings when you can,

Marcella Rose