Garlic Herb Cheese Pizza

Pizza first made its appearance in the United States with the arrival of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. This was certainly the case in cities with large Italian populations, such as Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia where pizza was first sold on the streets of Italian neighborhoods. In late 19th century Chicago for example, pizza was introduced by a peddler who walked up and down Taylor Street with a metal washtub of pizzas on his head, selling his wares at two cents a chew. This was the way pizza used to be sold in Naples, in copper cylindrical drums with false bottoms that were packed with charcoal from the oven to keep the pizzas hot. It was not long until small cafes and groceries began offering pizzas to their Italian-American communities. 

Mexican Pizza

Refried beans is a dish of cooked and mashed beans and is a traditional staple of Mexican, Tex-Mex cuisine, although each cuisine has a different approach when making the dish. Refried beans are also popular in many other Latin countries.

Bread Pizza

Copyright 2011 Christine's Pantry. All rights reserved.

The Ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. In Byzantine Greek the word was spelled pita, meaning pie. The word had now spread to Turkish as pide, in Balkan languages, Serbo Croatian pita, Albanian pite, Bulgarian pita, Modern Hebrew via the Judaeo Spanish pita, Though the Hebrew word pittah is spelled like the Aramaic pittetalpitta, which is related to Levantine Arabic Fatteh, they are not connected historically. The Romans developed placenta, a sheet of flour topped with cheese and honey and flavored with bay leaves. Modern Pizza originated in Italy as the Neapolitan pie with tomato. In 1889, cheese was added.

King Ferdinand I (1751-1825) is said to have disguised himself as a commoner and, in clandestine fashion, visited a poor neighborhood in Naples. One story has it that he wanted to sink his teeth into a food that queen had banned from the royal court... pizza.

In 1889, during a visit to Naples, Queen Margherita of Savoy was served pizza resembling the colors of the Italian flag. Red (tomato), white (Mozzarella) and green (basil). This kind of pizza has been named after the Queen as Pizza Margherita.

The bottom of the pizza, called the "crust", may vary widely according to style, thin as in a typical hand tossed pizza or Roman pizza, or thick as in a typical pan pizza or Chicago style pizza. It is traditionally plain, but may also be seasoned with garlic, or herbs, or stuffed with cheese.

In restaurants, pizza can be baked in an oven with stone bricks above the heat source, an electric deck oven, a conveyor belt oven or, in the case of more expensive restaurants, a wood or coal fired brick oven. On deck ovens, the pizza can be slid into the oven on a long paddle, called a peel, and baked directly on the hot bricks or baked on a screen (a round metal grate, typically aluminum). When made at home, it can be baked on a pizza stone in a regular oven to reproduce the effect of a brick oven. Another option is grilled pizza, in which the crust is baked directly on a barbecue grill. Greek pizza, like Chicago style pizza, is baked in a pan rather than directly on the bricks of the pizza oven.

By http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza

Bread Pizza

Copyright 2011 Christine's Pantry. All rights reserved.

Ingredients:

4 slices bread, toasted, you can use any bread you have on hand

pizza sauce, to taste

1/4 cup Mozzarella shredded cheese, more if desired

12 sliced pepperoni

1/2 red onion, sliced

1/2 green bell pepper, sliced

1/2 teaspoon oregano

Directions:

Spread pizza sauce on each toasted bread. Sprinkle oregano on each toasted bread, take 2 slices bread and add cheese, onions and green bell peppers. Take the other 2 slices and add cheese and slice pepperoni. Place under broiler, until cheese has melt and bubbly. Keep an eye on it. Enjoy!

Cooks note, make sure your bread is toasted before adding pizza sauce, or your bread will be soggy. This recipes makes a great lunch, or after school snack.