Did anyone order me a plain cheese?

 

Spurred off of an old friends recent battle with pizza dough and the March cover of Bon Appetite magazine, I’ve decided to make March ‘pizza month’. 

Technically, national pizza month is in October, but this will be my ‘personal’ 31 days of pizza. The goal: minimum 12 different pizzas during the month, with no repeat flavor combinations.   And don’t worry Chicago friends; an attempt at deep dish will take place.

I do feel compelled to admit, that while I do enjoy pizza, I don’t have the same feelings towards it as some of my friends.   I have a close friend that would have it every day if he could.  That’s not me.  I very rarely order it in, and only in the last 6 months have I started to make more of it at home. 

It’s not quite certain who created the first pizza, but modern pizza is credited to baker Raffaele Esposito of Naples. In preparation for the 1889 visit of Italian King Umberto I and Queen Margherita, he created a pizza that would best represent the colors of Italy: red tomato, white mozzarella cheese and green basil. Ecco! Pizza margherita, a standard even now on pizza menus.

Some other fun facts before I get started:

-- The first pizzeria in North America was opened in New York City.

-- The first "Pizza Hut" restaurants appeared in the US during the 1930s.

-- Frozen pizza was invented by Rose Totino.

-- Pepperoni is the #1 pizza topping choice in America

-- 3 billion pizzas are sold annually in the US

Armed with a brainstorming session this morning with a  former classmate of mine and what feels like enough pizza dough to feed a small army, I’m anxious for March to start. 

 

Anyone in the Boston area, please let me know if you want in on the eating of any of these pizzas.  Even at a ‘personal’ size, this is a lot of pizza for a gal that doesn’t go crazy about it.

Now just to decide which one to try first…..