Happiness in four (easy) acts Making a person happy requires just: - 150 g of white flour - 15 g of beer yeast - some water - some milk - a teaspoon of olive oil - 1/2 teaspoon of salt - 1 can tomato sauce ('pomodori pelati', in italian.. I mean, everything is ok, but to ketchup please!) - cheese - toppings of your choice (but see the third act..) - pepper (the spice, not the vegetable! do they really have the same name in english?!?) - origano First act First, melt the yeast in half glass of warm water. Stir vigorously in order to completely dissolve the yeast, and add two teaspoons of flour (stil stirring). In a bowl, put 100g of flour with the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix them. Then add the glass of water+yeast, and the teaspoon of olive oil. Stir vigorously (with a wooden spoon if you have one, a normal spoon otherwise). Now your goal is to transform the dough in a solid plain ball; add milk if the dough is not solid, some flour if it is too fluid. When the dough is quite solid, put it on a table and knead it with the hands until you obtain a solid a plain ball. Remember the rules: add milk if it's not solid, flour if it's liquid. Eventually, put the dough back in the bowl, and the bowl in the oven (swithed off!!!) for at least one hour. Isn't that easy? Second act Take the dough from the oven.. it should have grown considerably. Knead it a bit with the hands, then using a mattarello (Babylon says: mattarello: rolling pin, long tube used for pressing and flattering dough... do you have mattarellos in your country?!?) flatten the dough until you obtain a thin, circular foil (you know... exactly the shape of a pizza). If the dough adheres too much to the mattarello, cover it with some flour. It must be thin! I mean, 2-3 mm at most! Third act Put the pizza in a baking tin (a large cake pan is ok), and add the tomato souce over the pizza. Then add the chease (in pieces) and the other toppings. Talking about toppings... if you are in my house, there are only two kind of toppings allowed: cheeses and sliced meats like ham, salami, bresaola. Asking for every other thing is simply blasphemous. If you are in your home, I can give you a bit more flexibility... but please don't even try to add "exotic" foods like ananas, mangos or papayas! I warn you! Fourth act Ok, we are almost done... that's the final, and most difficult, test. Keep your peace of mind, deep breathe and switch on the oven. Set the temperature to (at least) 250 Celsius degree. Than wait for 15 minute to let the oven become *really* hot (hotter than Angelina Jolie, to give you the idea). After 15 minutes (don't cheat uh?) put the pizza in the oven for... 5-15 minutes (it depends on many factors: how hot is the oven, how thin is the pizza, the moon, price of gas...) The pizza is correctly cooked when the cheese is fully melt and it starts to brown at the edges. Ok, now add a bit of pepper and origano on the pizza, a large beer *nearby* the pizza and, congratulations!, you've just made a person happy. Please note: this recipe does not want to describe the "original italian pizza"; it's just my personal recipe, sharpened by years of experience in making pizzas at home. Enjoy!

Recipe: - 2 cups of whole wheat flower - 2 cups of white flower - 1 and 1/3rd cups of warm water (or so) - 2 tbl. oil - 2 tbl. brown sugar - 1-2 tbl. of dark molasses (optional) - 1-2 tbl. cinnamon (to taste) - 1 tbl. white sugar - 2 tbl. yeast - 1 tsp. salt Combine the white sugar, warm water and yeast into a container. Allow the yeast to replicate. It is ready to add to the flower mixture when 1-2 inches of foam develop, indicating that the yeast have started to grow. In a mixing bowl, comibine the remaining ingredients and add the yeast mixture. Mix well until the dough has a smooth and elastic texture. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flower. If it is too dry, add a little warm water. Oil your cooking pan and form the dough to fit the shape of the pan. Lightly flower any sticky parts of the dough and dust off any loose flower. Place dough in the bottom of the pan and allow to rise for about 30 minutes or place it directly in your cooker. Cooking time in my carshade funnel cooker is about 2 hours. Bread is fully cooked and easily pops out of the pan. Delicious right out of the pan, or even better when toasted with butter. Mix in some chocolate chips, chopped apples, or whatever you like - just share the recipe.