Castle Season 3 episode 20 – Slice of Death

Alexis: Is that from Stefano’s?

Castle: Mm-hmm.

Alexis: You went all the way across the bridge for a pizza?

Castle: Not for just anyone. Fresh basil and sausage.

Castle is one of my favorite crime dramas on tv. Richard Castle is a rich, extremely hot, writer man-child using his pull with the mayor’s office to follow around the gorgeous Detective Beckett as inspiration for his new book.  Castle is played perfectly by Nathan Fillion (*swoon*) who brings a funny, geeky, playboy lovability to the show.  Not to mention he references firefly on more than one occasion which is awesome. 

The cast has a believable chemistry and the stories are fun and suspenseful. Plus abc network has found a way to blur the lines between “real” life and its fictional characters by creating a series of novels ‘written’ by Richard Castle that are available on amazon. I have them all. Dont judge. 

One of my favorite episodes is Slice of Death. A dead body found in a pizza oven fuels the hot button topic of the New york Pizza Wars. It has its typically witty one-liners and a twisty plot but my favorite part is when we get to see sweet single dad side of Castle who travels across the bridge to get his daughter a fresh basil and sausage pizza from Stefano’s.  

Chewy, crispy crust with melty cheese. Spicy italian sausage coupled with the slightly sweet bite of fresh basil. This pizza is totally worth going across the bridge for.

Or, better yet you can whip it up right now and enjoy it while watching this episode from your complete series of Castle on DVD.  Assuming you have the complete series on DVD, like I do. Dont judge.

Across the Bridge Pizza

Makes 1 –  14″ pizza

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast

1 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoons salt

1 cups water, warmed

1 cup of your favorite pizza sauce (I like classico traditional)

½ lb mild Italian sausage, crumbled, cooked and drained

1-2 cups fresh grated mozzarella (depending on how cheesy you like it)

About 4 large fresh Basil leaves cut into thin strips

Cornmeal for dusting

Directions:

• In a standing mixer fitted with the hook attachment, place the warm water, yeast, sugar and 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Allow to sit until yeast begins to foam.
• Add flour and salt. Mix until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl.

• Drizzle half of the remaining olive oil over the top of the dough. Turn the dough over in the bowl cover and allow it to rise to approximately twice its size. (about an hour)
• Punch the dough down and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Cover and allow to rise a second time.
• At this time, pre-heat your oven to 400. Lightly grease a pizza pan and dust with cornmeal.
• Once the dough has doubled in size a second time, punch it down and transfer to a lightly floured surface.

• Roll dough to approximately 17 inches in diameter, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to prepared pan and roll excess dough down to create an edge for your crust.
• Top with pizza sauce and spread over the top of your dough. Top with cooked Italian sausage. Sprinkle the cheese and fresh basil on top.

• Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cut the pizza into wedges and serve.