Metamorphosis of a crop

First, there was this:

In spite of all my whinging, the tomato crop ended up being quite fantastic this year. I give all the credit to my nifty my-Dad-would-be-so-proud-of-me tomato cages. If we had been home throughout the whole month of September, it would have been even better. 

Memo to self: quit planning extended trips for early fall.

I roasted about half of the crop and canned the rest. My freezers are absurdly full so I left a jarful of the roasted variety in my fridge. 

Last week, I had a hankering for homemade pizza. Actually, it was partly a hankering and partly my cunning plan to feed Jeff so well that he forsakes his cunning plan of sneaking-into-fast-food-joints-every-excuse-he-can-summon.

So I made a simple crust in the bread machine.

I sliced red peppers and mushrooms and red onions.

I chopped some Canadian bacon that should have been used long ago but was somehow still botulism-free.

I pureed those tomatoes and added some Italian seasoning and some of that nasty premixed spaghetti seasoning that tastes so yummy.

I pulled out the bag of Sorrento Unltimate Pizza Shred that is a hearty blend of Mozzarella, Bel Paese, Asiago, Provolone, and Parmesan cheeses. It is the best pizza cheese I have ever tasted.

I divided the dough into two pieces, slathered it with plenty of olive oil, and let it rest for a few minutes on two pizza stones. Once it had rested, it was easy to stretch it out in a semblance of a circle. 

Then I sprinkled the veggies and meat liberally on the crust. Just onion and C. bacon on my portion.

At which point I realized that I had forgotten to spread the sauce on the crust.

Oh well. I just dolloped it over the toppings and spread it out as best as I could.

Then, lots of cheese.

And, just a few minutes later we had this:

It was one of the best pizzas I have ever made.

In spite of the dolloped sauce.

Jeff took a couple of slices for lunch every day so far this week and didn't complain once.

Now I'm hungry.