Slide 1 Pizza, Please! What kind of pizza do you like? What is your favorite topping? To many people, pizza is the best food. Pizza is fun to eat—and to make! To make pizza, you need dough, sauce, and cheese. Making pizza dough is the first step. Pizza dough begins with wheat. Wheat is a grain. Grains are important for a healthful diet. Farmers plant fields of wheat. Plump wheat kernels grow on top of tall, slender stalks. When the wheat is golden and ripe, farmers harvest it by cutting down the stalks. Then kernels are separated from the stalks and ground up to make flour. To make pizza crust, mix flour with water, yeast, and a little olive oil until it forms dough. Then knead the dough by folding, pushing, stretching, and pulling. Let the dough rest until it is time to make the pizza.

Slide 2 Pizza, Please! (Cont.) Next comes the pizza sauce. Pizza sauce is made with plump red tomatoes that come from gardens or vegetable farms. Vegetables are an important part of a healthful diet. We can buy ripe, red tomatoes from a farm stand or a market. To make a tasty tomato sauce, cook tomatoes with other ingredients such as crisp white onions, spicy garlic, green basil, and a little black pepper. Let the sauce boil and bubble gently until it is time to make the pizza.

Slide 3 Pizza, Please! (Cont.) Most pizza is made with mozzarella cheese. Where does the cheese on pizza come from? Cheese makers use milk to make cheese. Cheese can be made from the milk of cows, sheep, or goats. Some mozzarella cheese on pizza is made from cow’s milk. Milk and cheese are important in a healthful diet. To make mozzarella cheese, cheese makers combine fresh milk with a special ingredient called rennet. Rennet helps turn milk into cheese. As the milk and rennet cook, the mixture thickens and separates into curds—just like what Miss Muffet ate while sitting on her tuffet! The curds are then pressed into balls of yummy mozzarella cheese. Shred the cheese into little pieces and set them aside until it is time to put the pizza together.

Slide 4 Pizza, Please! (Cont.) Now it’s time to combine all the ingredients to make the pizza. First, push and poke and toss and stretch the dough until it is thin. Next, pour on the tasty tomato sauce. Spread it evenly to cover the dough. Then add the shredded mozzarella cheese. Is your pizza ready to bake in the oven? Not yet! It’s time to add the toppings. How about some vegetables, such as slices of ripe tomatoes, green peppers, broccoli, onions, or mushrooms? You can also add meatballs, spicy pepperoni, chicken, or even little salty fish called anchovies. When all the toppings are on, the pizza is baked in a hot oven. When the pizza is done, let it cool, and then dig in! MMM-mmm! Pizza is good for you, too. The pizza dough is made of grain. The sauce is made from tomatoes. The cheese is made from milk. The toppings may be vegetables, meat, or fish. These foods help you grow strong and healthy. A slice of pizza every now and then can be part of a very nutritious diet! Unit 4, Week 1 Pizza, Please! 1. What tool can you use to combine ingredients in a bowl? 2. What kinds of vegetables do farmers grow? 3. What ingredients do you need to make a salad? 4. What foods can you buy at a market? 5. What is your favorite nutritious food? 6. How can you tell if a tomato is plump? 7. What happens to cheese when you shred it? 8. Why can a slender cat hide easier than a fat cat? 9. If you toss a Frisbee at someone, what do they try to do?