"Pizza" by Tom Brown
After the dough has had a chance to rise (about 8 hrs), I can then prepare the pans for deep dish. A splash of olive oil in each pan along with shredded Asiago right in the pan. Next, roll the dough out enough to line each pan. The dough is infused with olive oil, basil paste and garlic powder. After the the dough is treated, its thumbed in carefully into each pan. Another dollop of Asiago and Parmesan then into the oven at °450 for about 10 minutes.
At which time, I sautee choice mushrooms, peppers, onions and other select vegetables along with veggie sausage in a skillet for the time that is takes the dough to partially cook. After 10 minutes pull the crusts from the oven and build your pies.
Sauce, more garlic, shredded mozzarella, then layer in sauteed vegetables and veggie proteins. Then fresh basil leaves. Then more cheese, including little flings of ricotta around the circumference.
The second pie gets sauce, garlic and mozzarella along with, fresh broccoli, spinach, and artichoke petals. More cheese and I may sneak black olives and sun dried tomatoes on there. Ricotta and oregano to finish. Both pies go back in the oven for 5 min.
When those pizzas cycle through, there's one more to make...Dealer's Choice. It may be an "Everything" containing all leftover ingredients or a vegetarian Buffalo wing with Anchor Wing sauce and a blend of Italian cheeses complete with fresh blue cheese or gorgonzola. My personal favorite is grilled pineapple, mushroom, veggie bacon and crushed red pepper. I also sneak shredded coconut on top that toasts up nicely and adds a subtle sweetness.
The care and precise details that go into any recipe is proportionate to those that go into designing a painting. The blending of colors is what it means to understand flavor profiles, and how they fit together, orchestrating textures, shape, and composition. Ok, food probably isn't rich in symbolism, necessarily, or personal narrative, but it does speak to an individual's creative process. My family looks forward to Pizza Night. It has become a celebrated end of the week.
"Pizza" by Wayne Thiebaud
There's far less fanfare when I finish a painting. They don't brag to their coworkers or invite their friends over when I finish a piece. The only pieces being consumed and critiqued are that of the deep dishes. Playing to the room, I guess that is more gratifying to the soul.
There's no chattering anticipation as to when or how long it takes me to finish a painting like there is when the oven is full of pizzas. "Are they done yet?"
Despite the amount pizza I make, I only end up with a couple of pieces. Yeah, 2 1/2 in the kitchen for that! It's like standing in line at an amusement park for that really crazy rollercoaster for an hour, for 90 seconds of thrills.
When all the stars align and my kids don't raid the fridge at 3 am while binging Rick & Morty, I'm able to experience a rare serendipity when I'm able to toast a wedge of pineapple black olive deep dish for breakfast then head out to my studio and plot the course of that day's creative workload. Ingesting what I've created amongst the backdrop of all that I've created over the years while contemplating what I'm creating next.
They still prefer food over art, I'm ok with that...
It's true, the family and even the boys' friends look forward to you turning out the homemade pizzas on Friday nights. Homeade Alfredo and Chili, are among the favorites that also fill our table with extra guests. Nothing gets more accolades than the current work of art in progress, "Whoa, you did that? Cool." Usually, discussion follows about process, symbolism or even a history lesson.