Chapter 325: When It Comes to Stone Ovens, This Comes to Mind…
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou and Onionpi
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“Alright, shall we get started on the pizza?”
I had made pizza from scratch before. However, it was too troublesome, what with all the mixing and kneading and waiting for the dough to rise, punching it down, shaping and waiting again.
Moreover, when I think about Fer & Co’s appetites my arms already ached from the mere thought of kneading mountains of dough…
Dough made with baking powder doesn’t require that much rising time but even so, there’s still a lot of mixing and stretching to do if you want to make a lot. [5]
“This is where frozen pizza base comes to the rescue! What a great time-saving hack.”
Frozen pizza base have already been moulded into the typical disc shape. All I have to do is put my desired ingredients on top and bake it, resulting in super easy, super convenient and super delicious pizza.
The great thing about pizza base is the freedom of choosing whatever you want for the topping without having to bother about making the dough.
Even for a classic Margherita which only has mozzarella cheese, tomato-based sauce and basil leaves, you’re still free to choose what kind of tomatoes to use, what type of cheese, how much cheese to sprinkle on and adjust the types of herbs you want over your pizza.
“[9] Let’s see, since we saved time and effort on the dough, let’s go a little wild with the toppings. We should have the classic Margherita of course. After that, let’s go with Teriyaki chicken, the pizza sauce base should be a thickened Teriyaki sauce, I’m sure the children will like those. Let’s see, what else do I have here… hm?”
I’m currently rummaging through the [Item Box] for toppings ideas. [5] [9] And a great idea just came to me!
[9] Fufufu.
[9] I pulled out some Yellow Scallops and Vermillion Shrimp from the [Item Box] with glee.
[9] That’s right. Let’s make super luxurious Seafood Pizzas!
The next step is getting all the other necessary ingredients from [Net Super].
Naturally, I’ll have to get lots of frozen pizza bases, cans of whole tomatoes for the sauce, fresh basil, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese (for the cheese pull effect) and a huge bag of mixed cheese [10].
After tapping the checkout button, a cardboard box appeared as usual filled with all the ingredients.
The first thing to do was to prepare the sauce. [5] [1] The frozen pizza dough could be left in their packets and thaw while I work on the sauce.
Let’s see, for the tomato sauce base, I’ll need to lightly crush the canned whole tomatoes. People who like a smooth sauce could put the tomatoes through a sieve but I like the slightly pulpy sensation of tomato flesh so I normally just crush it randomly with my hand.
[9] Once the tomatoes were crushed, I fried some chopped garlic (lots of chopped garlic actually) over low heat to make it fragrant.
There’s no need to brown the garlic, it’s fine as long as they’re fragrant. I poured the crushed tomatoes in, including the liquid from the can and let it simmer until it is reduced to a sauce. After adjusting the flavour with salt and pepper, this very simple sauce would be ready.
I prepared a lot of tomato sauce since I’ll need it for both the Margherita and Seafood Pizza.
While the sauce was simmering on the stove, I blanched the scallops and shrimps before cutting them up into appropriate sizes for pizza toppings. [1] The cherry tomatoes were cut in half.
For the Teriyaki pizza, finely sliced onions are one of the essential ingredients to complement the sweet and savoury chicken. [9] Oh, for today’s ‘chicken’ we’ll be using Cockatrice meat cut into bite-size pieces. Next, I fried the meat pieces in my largest frying pans with a little oil until they were lightly browned. Finally, add a mixture of soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar for the teriyaki sauce.
All four burners were going hot, reducing the sauce and grilling up plenty of Teriyaki Cockatrice for our meat lovers.
“Alright, that should do it,” I said as I put the cooked Teriyaki Cockatrice and tomato sauce away in my [Item Box]
“Hold on, I should get a pizza cutter too, right? I wonder if [Net Super] has any.”
[1] It turned out, [Net Super] didn’t.
Ah well, I guess it’s too much of a specialized tool? [5]
Anyway, since we don’t have any, I guess we could just make it.
“Sui? Could you come over for a second?”
““Ye~ess~?””
“Look, could you make something like this-” [9] I proceeded to sketch the design of a pizza cutter for Sui.
[9] “…so, what do you think?”
[9] ““Hmm~ Sui could try~~””
So, I gave her some materials and-
““Is this alright~?””
“Wow, yes! It’s perfect. Sui is awesome!” [5]
““Yay~~!””
[9] Now, time for pizza!!
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[8] Back at the stone oven where Teresa was supervising the heating up of the oven, the men stood back to show me the fire they had gotten going.
[11] “Wow, it’s heating up nicely,”
[11] “Yes,” said Teresa cheerfully, “this stone oven retains heat very well.”
“Good, lunch could start anytime now. Could you guys call the guards over?”
The children cheerfully scattered to gather Tabasa’s team for lunch.
[11] While the others were being called, I got everything else ready.
[11] Baking pizza takes up hardly any time but the prep work is immense. Fortunately, I have frozen pizza base (now thawed) to speed up the process.
[11] First, I raised a stone table from the ground with my Earth Magic. Hmm, a longish, rectangular table within easy reach of the oven would be the best. Then, I placed the thawed pizza bases, a large pot of tomato sauce, bowls of seafood, teriyaki chicken, sliced onions etc as well as the mixed cheese and mozzarella cheeses on the long table in a line. All the better for everyone to choose their pizza toppings
By now, everyone had gathered for lunch. [11] For a brief moment, I wondered over the security of the front gate but then caught sight of Fer and the rest of my party…
[6] Ah, I guess only the really stupid would attack this place while I’m here (with my familiars).
“Okay, since everyone’s here, let’s use the stone oven to make pizza!”
[11] Everyone tilted their heads to the side, puzzled. I guess they never heard of pizza before in this world? [5] [8] “W-well, rather than explaining, why don’t I make it once?”
Let’s start with the simplest type, the Margherita.
[11] I grabbed one of the flat pizza bases, spread a generous amount of tomato sauce on top, tear off some mozzarella cheese by hand and topped it with basil leaves.
[11] Next, I made the Seafood Pizza by scattering the blanched seafood on a less generous tomato base, dotting it with some cut cherry tomatoes and adding lots of mixed cheese on top.
[11] Finally, for the Teriyaki Chicken Pizza, I spread some thinly sliced onions on the base over a dollop of teriyaki sauce, plopped some chicken on and scattered a good amount of mixed cheese over it. To make it even more luxurious, I drizzled mayonnaise over the whole thing.
“Alright, this is roughly how you should assemble a pizza. Later, you can put whatever you like on yours.” I took out a Mithril pizza peel (made by Sui!) and placed the pizza on top of what is essentially a giant spatula.
[6] Just as I was about to place the pizzas into the oven, I noticed everyone’s hands. Some were covered in dirt, others soot… “Ah, everyone, please go wash your hands first. Use soap to clean your hands properly!”
[5] [6] There was an excited stampede to the well where buckets and soap had been placed for everyone’s convenience.
After a record-breaking wash, everyone reassembled and I finally placed the pizza peel with the three pizzas on top into the stone oven. [11] I didn’t bother to shake the pizzas off the peel, letting the pizzas bake in the very hot oven while still on the giant spatula thing.
[11] It was fascinating to see the dough turn brown, the cheese melt and steam practically rising right before my eyes. In no time at all, all three pizzas were done and I carefully took the peel out of the oven and slide the pizzas onto a large cutting board. Then, while the pizzas were still hot, sliced them up with my pizza cutter.
I could hear collective gulping as the browned pizza base cracked under the cutter and the scent of grilled cheese and baked tomatoes rose to the air…
“Alright, everyone please take whichever slice you like. You hold it like this,” I said, demonstrating with a slice of Margherita.
[11] Everyone swarmed eagerly over to the table and grabbed a piece.
“Huff, huff, delicious!”
“Hot, it’s hot but really good.”
“Huff, yummy~~!”
“This melting sensation~~”
As expected, pizza turned out to be a hit with everyone.
The basic Margherita was popular among the adults, followed by the seafood. The children liked the Teriyaki Pizza most.
“Oi, feed us!”
““That’s right!!””
““Sui is hungry~””
Ooops, I quickly moved to assemble the pizzas for my familiars.
“What do you want on it?”
““Meat!!”” [5]
…why do I even bother?
So, Teriyaki Chicken with extra chicken and extra cheese.
I quickly assembled three pizzas, placed them on the pizza peel and a couple of minutes later, it was done.
[11] Swish, swish swish!
I quickly cut and swept pizza slices onto plates and set them out for my familiars.
Fer and Dora-chan used their Wind Magic to cool their pizzas while Sui ate the piping hot slices directly.
“Umu, I supposed it’s good. More.”
““Crispy~! I want more too!””
““Sui likes the meat and the stretchy white thing~~””
Well, let’s make more Teriyaki Chicken Pizza since everyone seems to like it.
[11] With the pizza peel in my hand like a weapon, I said, “Okay, everyone make whatever they like, I’ll bake them.”
[11] While everyone was slowly mulling over what topping to put on their pizza dough, I assembled more Teriyaki Pizza (extra meat, extra cheese) for my familiars.
Most of the adults made themselves Margherita pizzas, [1] with some variations. Some have more tomato sauce, some more cheese, others without basil etc.
Tabasa and Bartel assembled Seafood Pizzas, [1] with Tabasa putting lots of tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes and cheese on hers while Bartel opted for more sauce, seafood and cheese but no cherry tomatoes.
The children were all about the Teriyaki Pizzas [1], Costi loading up the cheese and meat, Celia going for more cheese while Erik added lots of meat and mayonnaise on his. Little Lotte added quite a lot of mayonnaise and cheese on hers.
The twins, blessed them, discovered the half and half, making themselves a pizza with two flavours. Seafood and Teriyaki Chicken. I guess they could be quite clever if they wanted to be.
“We’re geniuses!!”
Nor were they shy about it.
The children all ‘ooooohh’ admiringly over the half and half pizzas.
Well, it’s good that everyone’s having fun.
Sui’s pizza peel was a great creation.
Once everyone had slowed down their eating, it was time to make my portion too.
Personally, my favourite has to be the Margherita. Perfectly baked crispy dough, tomato sauce rich with garlic flavour and stretchy mozzarella cheese. The great trinity of deliciousness. [5]
Looks like the pizza was a great success.
I might have used frozen pizza bases for today’s lunch but since Aiya and Teresa could make bread, they should have all the technical ability to make pizza for themselves whenever they want.
Speaking of which, [6] while Teresa has her own bread recipe using the primitive yeast culture method, which I’m looking forward to trying, by the way, there’s no harm in taking a shortcut via dry yeast.
Also, we could use whole wheat flour to make the dough with better flavour and texture too.
That’s right, pizza is a dish with endless possibilities.
I’m glad I made the stone oven.
[Gumihou: I want one too…]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Creative Licence Taken
[9] Pizza making.
Gumi has made pizza from scratch before and had made things such as ‘Sambal Pizza’, ‘Lamb Curry Pizza’ and a ‘Chocolate and Banana Pizza with Smores’…
[10] ‘Mixed Cheese’ is usually a packet of three or more kinds of cheese shredded and packaged for your convenience. Usually contains cheddar, mozzarella and probably gouda or provolone.
[11] Pizza making interactions – Seriously, there was a point where Mukouda was just standing around doing nothing while Tabasa’s team was being called. Rearranged stuff so that he got the table etc ready while waiting for everyone to gather for lunch.
Also, took liberty with the pizza making instruction.
Gumihou: Mukouda, you did not just make a seafood pizza without any sauce, did you? Did you? No, you didn’t because Gumi made sure there’s a layer of sauce on the base before the seafood goes on the pizza. Also, what’s this insanity about spreading mayonnaise as base for teriyaki chicken? Mayonnaise would just turn into oil if you heat it up, just use teriyaki sauce for goodness sake.
