Poker Cuisine

Shana’s Midnight Pizza Recipe
(Printable version below)

Pizza/Marinara Sauce:

Tomato Sauce – 6 cans (29 oz.)
Oregano – one fresh 32 oz. pack
Dry Oregano –  3 teaspoons
Parsley – 1/2 cup fresh chopped
Basil – one fresh 32 oz. pack
Garlic – 8 cloves
Onion – 2 large sweet, finely diced
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Salt – 6 teaspoons
Pepper – 2 teaspoons
Olive oil – 1 & 1/4 cups
Wine – 3 cups

Pour tomato sauce into pot.  Puree all other ingredients using about a cup of tomato sauce.
Add all ingredients to large pot and simmer 6 to 8 hours, stirring frequently.  This will make a large pot of sauce that can be frozen in manageable portions.

Homemade Pizza Dough:

I have to give credit to Kyle Varga a very good friend of ours who taught me how to make homemade pizza dough, so this is his recipe!
If you don’t have enough time, or don’t enjoy spending time cooking, use a Boboli for the pizza dough instead of making your own.

If you’ve never made your own pizza dough…
Click here to see how to make pizza dough from scratch.

For our recipe you’ll need 1 cup of water – set 1/4 cup aside and heat to 110-120 degrees. Mix a packet of yeast with the hot water and let it sit about 10 minutes.

In another bowl add 1 teaspoon of sugar and any dried herbs you would like (oregano or basil).
Add the rest of your water
3 tablespoons olive oil
Beer – just a little of any kind you like
3 cups flour

You then add the yeast mixture to all ingredients, knead and round out the dough. Set dough in bowl and cover with damp cloth. Let dough rise and then cut in half (about 30 minutes).

When you shape your dough for the pizza DO NOT USE A ROLLER. Place your dough on a cutting board with a little flour and use your finger tips to pat the dough (from the inside out) until you have created a nice round (or square) dough for your pizza.  It’s a labor of love, so if you don’t have time for this part – substitute with a Boboli!

Pizza Toppings:

My Midnight Pizza consists of the following:
First I sauté ground Italian sausage (hot or mild), then after the sausage is cooked I set it aside in a bowl.
In the same cooking pan I add mushrooms, bell peppers and onions to the oils left from the sausage.
I cook the ingredients just for a few minutes to get the entire flavor from the sausage oil.
I then take the pizza crust and put some of my marinara sauce on it and add mozzarella cheese, and then the toppings (sausage, bell peppers and onions).
And last but not least MORE CHEESE (Mozzarella, and a little Cheddar for color).

If you want to be fearless, like my husband and I, we add serrano chile peppers and cayenne pepper to top things off.

Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes, depending on how heavy the toppings are.

Here’s a little history on how it got it’s name the Midnight Pizza:
One Friday evening after a long work week, Paul and I made this pizza, put it in the oven and went out on our patio with a bottle of wine to relax. We got so caught up in conversation that we left the pizza in the oven too long. Our fire alarm went off and the kitchen was filled with smoke – and by the way, it was just about Midnight. We thought it was ruined, but what we found was that it made a perfect golden crust to the top of the cheese and was actually chewy and delicious. Now we overcook it on purpose! Our poker friends tried it and it has become one of our Poker Night favorites!

-Shana Smith