Here is something my Mom, Greg and I all have in common…we love Pizza.  And pizza in Italy is the best!  Pizza originated in Italy and they have continued to perfect the art ever since.  When my Mom was in town we decided to make our own versions of our favorite pizza’s at home. We had so much fun and Julia even got in on the action.

When I told my uncle our plan to try to duplicate our favorite pizza’s at home he gave us a brief history lesson on the pizza.  As it turns out, pizza started as a flatbread consumed by many people in Europe.  In 16^th century this was a common meal sold on the streets to the poor throughout Naples.  It was an inexpensive dish that offered many different types of toppings.  Credit for the first Margherita pizza is given to pizza maker Raffaele Esposito of Naples.  The story is that in June of 1889 to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, he created a “Pizza Margherita” for the Queen (I had to get that from Wiki – History of Pizza) .  This pizza consisted of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil to represent the colors of the Italian flag.  Thank you Raffaele!  Today people around the world enjoy this simple but delicious pizza.