Our World Famous Pizza

Ingredients: 1 package of dry yeast a little sugar 3/4 cup water 2 cups of unbleached flour sat & green pepper oregano 2 teaspoons of olive oil You'll need two big bowls and a damp dish cloth, preferable clean.

Directions: First throw in a pinch or two of sugar into 3/4 cup of luke warm water and give it a stir. Reconstitute the yeast in the water - this is best done by pouring the yeast evenly onto the surface of the water. It will sink to the bottom eventually. Cover with aluminum foil. While the yeast is coming to life (5 - 10 minutes), get a nice size bowl and mix your flour, salt, oregano, pinch or two of sugar and pepper together. Get a second bowl together and lightly coat with a thin layer of olive oil. Take your yeasty water, and two teaspoons of olive oil and mix evenly with the flour mixture. Form into a ball and place in your second olive oil bowl. Cover with damp towel put in a warm place and check back on the progress in 3 - 6 hours. Don't punch it down - that's for bullies.

• If the dough is your skeleton, the sauce is the soul of a pizza. If the sauce is no good..well what do you have? That's right. A bad pizza! Although a good sauce could be purchased from the store, we don't do that while in Italy. Bad ../image. And, it doesn't take long to put together.

Ingredients: 1/3 Onion 1/4 pound of ground beef (substitute wild boar if you can) 4 cloves of Garlic 1/4 Ground Beef (substitute wild boar whilein Tuscany and if you desire a vegetarian version drop the meat altogether) Large can of peeled tomatoes without sauce 1/3 - 1/2 small can of tomato paste Some olive oil Some sugar, salt, pepper and dried basil (2 teaspoons).

Directions: In a good size sauce pan pour in your olive oil, you don't need too much. Add the finely chopped onion and garlic. Saute until limp and translucent. Add the ground beef until lightly browned. Chop the peeled tomatoes and add. Stir it around every so often (15 minutes) at a low boil. Add the tomato paste to thicken. Add salt (be liberal) to taste, pepper, sugar and stir thoroughly. Add the dried basil at the end - another 15 minutes. Let it cool.

• Ahh...here is where the orchestra comes together to perform its night's selection. First thing you do is open a bottle of Chianti and pour a half glass (more will come later on) to begin enjoying the symphony.

Ingredients: Sauce above Dough 3/4 pound mozzarella 1/4 cup finely ground parmigiano 20 or so oil cured olives pitted by hand...by you Local wild mushrooms (crimini, portabello, porcini or truffles! Yes! Sweet Italian sausage A little cornmeal Bottle of Chianti Classico Prep: Wash trim and lightly saute the mushrooms. Throw a little wine in to steam momentarily. Drain this and let cool Prep: Saute the Italian sausage until slightly brown. Cut into small cubes. Prep: Pit those olives. Prep: Turn the oven onto 475 degrees Farenheit (#8 gas setting at 250 degree Centigrade)

Directions: Dough: Using flour and a dry, clean surface place your now finely fermented ball of dough on your surface with a thin bed of flour keeping the dough from sticking. Sprinkle some flour over the top so that it doesn't stick to your hands. Clench your hands into two fists that would make Holyfield faint and knead the dough from the center of the ball pushing outward until a nice pie has formed. With this complete, pour a little more wine for yourself. Place a layer of cornmeal (polenta) on your new pizza stone...you don't have one? Get a pan instead. Put the stone in your oven for 3 minutes and take it out (this will stop your pie from having a soggy center). Skip this if you are using a pan. Spread your sauce evenly and uniformly. Place the balance on top of the sauce: parmigiano cheese, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, olives and Italian sausage. The mozz cheese goes last. Cook for 15 minutes (pour another glass of wine), turn it 90 degrees and cook another 15 or so. Let it cool. Gather everyone around for a wonderful pizza if you are still standing from the wine.