Easy as (pizza) pie... an easy, breezy weeknight fix

A few years ago, I was traveling in Europe with a friend, and when in Rome.... we ate pizza. We also ate pizza in Florence and Venice. I know it sounds cliche, but it really is very different than your American Pizza Hut Variety. Light, flavorful and easy. Almost like a flatbread with toppings. The biggest difference was that the pizza I ate there had NO PIZZA SAUCE. Instead, it was drizzled with olive oil, and topped with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella. The recipe below is easy and is my best effort at replicating authentic Italian pizza.

Step one: Make yourself a martini. Vodka makes cooking fun!

First, lay your pizza dough out on a greased cookie sheet. If you have a pizza stone, you can use that too. Sprinkle it with a little sea salt and pepper to give it a bit more flavor. I bake the pizza dough for 4 mins in a 425 degree oven to get it to firm up a bit before adding any toppings.

Q: Can you make your own pizza dough?

A: Of course I can. You basically just use bread dough. I will feature bread-making in the future, but it is far too complicated to get into right now. Pre-made pizza dough works ok in a pinch (it's by the Pilsbury crescent rolls at the store.)

Next, drizzle a bit of olive oil over the dough. Olive oil is unique in that it actually imparts a nice, subtle, earthy flavor, unlike the canola oil or vegetable oil that many people are used too. It also has more heart-healthy fats in it than other types of oil. I don't think I could live without olive oil. It's that important. Use a brush to spread it all around your pizza dough.

After your dough is nice and glistening with olivey goodness, spread a thin layer of pesto all over the dough. Pesto has lots of flavor, but it isn't overwhelming if you spread it thinly. Basil, pinenuts, parmesan... it's all there in one easy to spread sauce. The layer of oil already on the crust will help the pesto spread more easily.

Next, thinly slice some red, ripe tomatoes. None of those mealy, hard, off-season tomatoes, please.

Layer the tomatoes on the pizza. See? It's all starting to come together! Oh, at this point, a little more salt on the tomatoes is a good thing.

Next up, zee mozz-arella! Slice 'er up, layer evenly in the pizza and pop it in the oven. That's it!

10 more minutes in a 425 degree oven until it's ready. Your mozzarella will be browning ever so slightly and the tomatoes should break down a little bit. You're done! See that ooey-gooey goodness? That's the good stuff.

Slice yourself a pizza pie. Yum.

Eat some pizza, watch a little Dancing with the Stars, make another martini. Perfect.

Cheers!