Sunday, March 4, 2018

Pizza So Easy Even Sarah Could Make It -- Guest Sherry Harris

LESLIE: Some cozy protagonists love to cook, some not so much. But everybody eats, right? So it's great fun to see how the non-cooks among the characters we know and love manage on their own. Our friend Sherry Harris has a great solution, a fairly free-form pizza recipe that offers just the right amount of flavor and flexibility! And she's celebrating the release of I KNOW WHAT YOU BID LAST SUMMER, fifth in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries, out February 27th from Kensington Books.

Sherry is offering a signed copy to one lucky reader! Leave a comment below for a chance to win. 

Pizza So Easy Even Sarah Could Make It 

Thanks Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen for being brave enough to ask me back. Apparently my earlier recipe for Fluffernutter Cake didn’t make anyone sick. Woo-hoo. I write the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series. My protagonist, Sarah Winston, isn’t exactly known for her cooking. She either eats at her favorite restaurant, DiNapoli’s Roast Beef and Pizza, or she makes a Fluffernutter sandwich. But sometimes a girl has to do something other than that.


So for Sarah and all the other people out there who like an easy, delicious recipe, here is my husband’s Garlic Pizza. He came up with the idea because our daughter isn’t a huge fan of tomato sauce. It’s been a hit ever since.

My husband makes his own crust using the recipe that came with the food processor. You can either make your crust or use a store-bought one. (I still want to try it with a cauliflower crust.)  After the crust dilemma is decided you only need two ingredients – garlic and a decent mozzarella cheese, about 14-16 ounces. We’ve found through some unfortunate experiences that bagged pre-shredded mozzarella just doesn’t cut it for this recipe.

Preheat your oven to 430 degrees (Note from Leslie: I checked, and yes, Mr. Sherry confirms he bakes at 430 degrees!)

Shred the cheese.

We always use fresh garlic – a lot of it! My husband uses six to eight large cloves. Remove the skin of the garlic. We put it in a jar and shake it around but you can also squish it out with the backside of a garlic press or a large knife. (For Sarah, the fewer sharp object around the better.)

Cook the crust for five minutes. We use a pan with holes in the bottom. My husband cooks it for three minutes on the top rack and two on the bottom.


Put the minced garlic directly on the hot pizza crust, and then spread it around with your fingers.


Top with the shredded mozzarella – add as much as you like!


Bake for ten to fourteen minutes until the crust is golden brown (or GB as we call it) on the bottom and the cheese is nicely melted. My husband cooks it on the top rack for six minutes and the bottom for four.


Slice and enjoy! We often add fresh tomatoes on top or a bit of crushed red pepper. Anything works – we’ve tried everything from avocado to left over pork. But usually we eat it just as it is.


Pizza -- the all-American food! What's your favorite? Tell us in the comments for a chance to win a signed copy of I KNOW WHAT YOU BID LAST SUMMER. (U.S. addresses only) The winner will be chosen Tues morning, March 6.)

From the cover of I KNOW WHAT YOU BID LAST SUMMER:



FOUL PLAY IN THE GYM
When it comes to running a successful garage sale, Sarah Winston believes in doing her homework. She also believes in giving back. But when she agrees to manage an athletic equipment swap, she doesn't bargain on an uncharitable killer. The day of the event, the school superintendent is found dead in the gymnasium.

HAS SARAH PLAYING DEFENSE
Suddenly the murder suspects are the school board members—including the husband of a very difficult client who's hired Sarah to run a high-end sale and demands she do her bidding. In between tagging and haggling, Sarah studies the clues to see who wanted to teach the superintendent a lesson. But as she closes in on the truth, the killer intends to give her a crash course on minding her own business . . .

SherryHarris is the Agatha Award nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series. The fifth book, I Know What You Bid Last Summer, was released in February 2018.

Sherry is the Vice President of Sisters in Crime National, a member of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers.

In her spare time Sherry loves reading, is a patent holding inventor, and is a former model. (Okay, it was just the one time at Talbots last year, but it was fun.) 

Sherry, her husband, and guard dog Lily are living in northern Virginia until they figure out where they want to move to next.

Visit her website, join her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter, @SHarrisauthor. Sherry blogs with the Wicked Cozy Authors



71 comments:

  1. My favorite pizza? White pizza with spinach and garlic. Perfection (in my opinion). And I'd love to read the book! EMS591@aol.com

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  2. I love a hand tossed pizza with bacon, mushrooms,pepperoni. Sometimes I love a good taco pizza.
    I love pizza,whether its from the pizza place or I made a homemade one. Congrats on the book release!
    Myndirene@Yahoo.com

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    1. I haven't made taco pizza in so long! I love it too!

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  3. What I need is a good crust recipe. We've got a decent (quick, easy, and tasty) tomato sauce recipe and the rest we can do on our own. Still, this sounds great. And the book sounds interesting.

    pjcoldren(at)tm.net

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    1. We should exchange recipes! I'd love a good sauce recipe! My husband uses the recipe that came with our food processor and it makes a great crust.

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  4. My all time favorite I’d onion, green pepper, ham, and pepperoni. The most unusual one I’ve eaten is a weck pizza near Buffalo. suefoster109 at gmail dot com

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  5. My DH and I love to make pizza for Saturday date night. We use a mix for the crust--so somewhere between homemade and store bought.

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  6. My son and I usually have pepperoni and black olives but his wife can't eat tomatoes so she has to have something without sauce so this would be perfect for her.
    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

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  7. It's hard to beat a good quality cheese pizza. Truthfully, I like just about anything on a pizza except raw onions or lettuce. I'll definitely give this recipe a try. Thank you for the chance to win. Dmskrug3 at hotmail(.)com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by! I hope you like it!

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  8. Pizza with tomatoes, basil, peppers and zucchini is my favorite. Love your book and recipe. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Zucchini? Interesting -- I will have to try that!

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  9. My favorite pizza is still pepperoni. I don't care for tomato sauce usually, so I spray the crust lightly with any food spray, layer on the pepperoni and cheese in two or three layers & bake. The pepperoni has enough grease that the crust won't dry out even if you forget the spray. Adding bacon is makes a nice change from just pepperoni & cheese. Thanks for the giveaway & recipe. doward1952@yahoo.com

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  10. Whole wheat crust, tomato sauce, spinach and broccoli. Love the mix and flavors. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  11. I don't have the time nor inclination to make my own dough. And we don't own a food processor. I buy ready made pizza dough in a funny format. It's 7" wide and 20" long and come 2 to a package. I cut them in half and freeze them to make at a later time (no chemical preservatives). I defrost add sauce and cheese and occasionally add sauteed mushroom and onion. EZ PZ! Oh and I cook them on a stone in my toaster oven at 450 degrees. LOL

    I'd love to be your lucky winner also.

    NoraAdrienne (at) gmail (dot) com

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    1. I hear you about the crust. I wouldn't make it either if it was left to me! And yours sounds great!

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  12. My favorite would be Spaghetti!

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  13. I love Hawaiian or Mexican pizza! Thank you for the opportunity to win this new book!
    debprice60@gmail

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    Replies
    1. I love them both too! I'm always surprised by the number of people who say pineapple has no place on a pizza!

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  14. We love pizza anything. While I make the crust my younger son grates the two cheeses. My older son and I chop 4 colors of bell pepper, onion, garlic, mushroom, My daughter slices the olives. We use either Ragu chunky pasta sauce or crushed tomatoes and we usually use three meats, pepperoni, Canadian bacon & either bacon or spiced crumbled beef or sausage. We have made pizza pockets, and pizza pull aparts. deepotter@peoplepc.com

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    1. I love that you all work together! Pizza pull aparts? That sounds yummy!

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  15. I make pizza with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, hamburger and cheese. pwtish171@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. I am going to have to try that!

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  16. I love pizza with sausage, green peppers and black olives
    marypopmom (at) yahoo (dot) com
    Maryann

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  17. My favorite pizza is black olive, sausage and mushroom. Although we have found a pizza parlor near us that delivers that has really good vegetarian pizzas. They may just change my mind! Thanks for the recipe and the giveaway. I love anything with lots of garlic. aut1063(at)gmail(dot)com

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  18. I like to make homemade pizza.
    I have two challenges with it, though.
    1-Shaping the crust. Even letting the dough rest to relax the gluten is not usually enough. So, we get some really free form pies.
    2-I'm heavy handed with the toppings. It's tough on the poor crust to try to cope with all those goodies!

    libbydodd at comcast dot net

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  19. I enjoy a simple vegan "cheese" pizza, although I like certain veggies too. If I have to make it myself, the simpler the better! mbradeen@yahoo.com

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    1. I've never tried it with vegan cheese. I'll have to try that too.

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    2. Trader Joe's makes a good shredded vegan mozzarella substitute. Daiya has several good vegan cheeses too, but theirs tend to be pricier.

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    3. Thank you! I love Trader Joe's!

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  20. This is beyond awesome! Thank you. Gosh,now I want pizza. No, that's not true: now I want Sarah to make for me pizza. Yes: with pineapple. :-)

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    1. Laughing! You probably want to have my husband make it for you!

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  21. My favorite pizza is NY style, thin with really good cheese. I also like pizza with green/red peppers and pepperoni. Even a good supreme type pizza is good.

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  22. My favorite pizza is lots of pepperoni with musrooms lots of cheese and a smige of bacon. Would love to win . Candykennedy45@gmail.com

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  23. As a born and raised Eastern Long Islander, my favorite is a brick oven baked meat lovers pie with extra mozz! Would love to win! Thanks for the chance!

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  24. pizza night for us is Sat and we make a home made pizza and it is wonderful but we cheat with the crust we find that a brand that is sold at the store is better than the one we make. I love mushrooms, Sargento cheese,tomatoes and asparagus plus sausage on mine. We make the small size for both of us and we love it. peggy clayton ptclayton2@aol.com

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    Replies
    1. I grew up having pizza every Friday night. Now we are more random about when we have pizza.

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  25. My husband says that the day he turns down pizza bury him because he is already dead. Seriously though, we love new York style pizza with peppers, onions and lots of cheese

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    Replies
    1. That is so funny and I agree with him!

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  26. I love pizza! I don't make pizza at home because the pizza place in our neighborhood has half-off pizza on Tuesdays. I usually order pizza with bacon, sausage, pepperoni and onions, it's so good! Living in Chicago, we also have awesome deep dish pizza.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. That is a great deal. I had one of the best deep dish pizzas of my life in a suburb of Chicago at town called Carpenter.

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  27. We like muenster cheese pizza...homemade crust, caramelized onions, crumpled bacon, diced tomatoes. Going to try this one as we love garlic.

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    1. Oh, that sounds great, Gram! I will have to try it!

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  28. Always on the look out for some thing new to make for meals. This sounds like a winner! We usually like pepperoni, black olives and lots of cheese. dbahn(at)iw(dot)net

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    1. That is a classic and delicious combination!

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  29. I love pizza & I love easy, so this is perfect. Pepperoni is my favorite topping. turtle6422(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Lots of people love pepperoni -- me included!

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  30. My favorite is cheese & basil pizza. Anyone have a good sourdough crust recipe? Have a great day.
    kckendler @ gmail dot com

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    1. That sounds great and sourdough crust sounds amazing!

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  31. When I want a quick pizza at home, I use pita bread for the crust. Basic cheese and tomato and whatever roasted veggies I have on hand.

    jtcgc at yahoo dot com

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    1. Oh, I love pita pizzas! And my husband brought pita home today!

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  32. My favorite is pepperoni. Thanks for the chance. Maceoindo(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  33. I love your stories and it's a hot when I get enough time to try some of the recipes. For a more intense mozzarella taste try organic mozzarella.

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    1. Thank you! I will try organic mozzarella! Thanks for the suggestion!

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  34. So happy to have you here with us today, Sherry! There is almost no wrong way to make pizza, IMO, although I do not believe chicken, pineapple, or anchovies belong on pizza! Mr. Right says he could eat pizza every night, and I bet this recipe will tempt him to make that promise true!

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