pizza: I've never made a pizza before, so I had a few questions: *Tomatoes~What are the best tomatoes for a pizza? (they will be sliced, not chopped) *Mozzarella~Slices or shredded, which is better? Skim or whole? *Broccoli florets~Fresh or frozen? Which will hold up better in the oven? Thank you!|||The best quality pizzas are thought to use plum or roma tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. If you're not trying to make a high quality pizza, but simply one that tastes good, don't worry about the buffalo. You can use regular, part skim, cow mozzarella. Shredded will melt more evenly, so I suggest this unless you're going for a more gourmet presentation (where you'll intentionally have blobs). Go with deep red tomatoes and skip the relatively tasteless stuff they use for sandwiches. Plum are the most authentic and have a nice taste. Roma work well, too. As for broccoli, fresh may end up too crunchy if you put them on raw. Frozen will be slighly limper and therefore may work better if you don't want crunchy chunks. However, again, if you're goin for quality, then there is no substitute for fresh.|||The issue of water is the biggest one here, lol I have used regular sized tomatoes or roma tomatoes sliced very thinly (too thick and they'll make too much water when cooked in the oven) As far a mozzarella...it depends on if you want to go more traditional or not. When using the dry/hard mozzarella I generally buy skim and use it shredded. I have also used fresh mozzarella (bought in the plastic containers where it is stored in water)...in which case you slice that thinly too (and make sure you drain it as well as pat it dry or you'll have the water issue again!) I personally prefer fresh broccoli. It seems to stand up better and it won't get as watery and mushy as defrosted broccoli. Hope that helps you!|||For the tomatoes, I agree with Marlene that plum tomatoes are tasty, and if you are near a super Wal-Mart, they sell a brand called campari, and these are a bit smaller, but VERY tasty for a winter tomato. For the mozzarella, if you want to go fancy, buy a fresh part skim that you have to slice yourself. If you just want wholesome and good, Kraft sells cheese already shredded in an italian blend, and it's awesome on pizza. For the broccoli: I would use fresh, but chop it finely so you don't have rubbery big chunks of broccoli on your pizza. (I think the oven makes it kind of rubbery.) Enjoy!|||Pizza at home is so good. I make different types often. I recommend roma tomatoes because they will hold up well and not get soggy. You can also used canned crushed tomatoes for a more saucy sauce or canned petite diced tomatoes. If you use canned tomatoes, get one that has basil, garlic and oregano seasonings added in, it will give great taste to your sauce. As for cheese, our favorite type is a mixed blend of shredded Italian cheeses like a mix of Mozzarella, provolone, parmesan and asiago or something similar. You can use either fresh or frozen broccoli but if you use fresh, you many need to pre steam for about 2 minutes before you bake in the oven. Frozen will work well if you use a good quality broccoli, flower parts , not the cut version. Enjoy!|||Roma tomatoes are the best. Whole milk mozzerella -- shredded will spread more easily. As for the broccoli, if you can get fresh that really is fresh, it may taste better. But quite often frozen vegetables are actually "fresher" than fresh, because they are frozen so soon after being harvested. I don't think there's much difference in how it holds up under heat, unless the stuff you start with is half wilted to begin with.|||i use vine ripened tomatoes because they are delicious. definitely whole mozzarella shredded. and broccoli florets i would go fresh.. although as some else said frozen maybe be fresher.. the frozen florets when cooked can dump their excess water onto you pizza making the crust soggy.|||I dont use mozzarella, no taste. I use monterey jack. Tomatoes-plum, fresh broccoli.