Recipe: Homemade Pizza
Adapted from this recipe
Ingredients:
* Hodgson Mill brand Active Dry Yeast (green-brown package, 5/16oz or 8.75g)
* 1 tsp generic sugar (1/4 tsp, then 3/4 tsp)
* 2.5 cups generic flour
* 1-2 cups warm water (as needed, see directions)
* 1 tsp salt
* dried rosemary
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1-15oz can tomato sauce (not paste, not puree, not diced tomatoes)
* assorted spices
* minced garlic (~1 tbsp, I have a jar of this I keep in the fridge)
* fresh tomatoes (1 normal size, or a few small)
* 4 oz mushrooms
* 1 onion
* fresh basil (small amount)
* shredded mozarrella (~1 cup?)
Directions:
This whole thing can take a few hours, but there's a lot of waiting periods. I generally start around 4 or 4:30 for dinner around 6 or 7.
In a large mixing bowl, start the yeast as per the directions on the package: 1/4 cup warm water, 1/4 tsp sugar, yeast, mix. Let sit 5-30 min and make sure it's bubbled after. (I've never had it not, I have no clue what I'd do if it didn't.)
Add 3/4 cup warm water to the big bowl, then slowly add 1 cup flour while mixing, add the 1 tsp salt, add some dried rosemary (it should look pretty when it's mixed in), add the rest of the flour while mixing. Somewhere after the first cup of flour you'll find that the dough ball that you'd created isn't picking up any more flour. Add a bit more warm water, 1/4 cup at a time. I usually end up with 1.25-1.5 cups water total. You want to use the full 2.5 cups of flour, and you want a dough ball at the end, not a mush or dry flour. Let sit for 5-30 minutes. Don't put the flour away yet.
Preheat oven to 450ºF. In a glass or metal bowl (to prevent tomato stains) mix the tomato sauce, assorted spices, and garlic. Chop the veggies. Lightly cover a round baking pan (or pizza stone, or block of wood, my baking pan's around 9" across) with flour. Knead the dough a bit, then mix in the 2 tbsp olive oil. No, it won't really mix in, don't worry about it. Put more flour on your hands and the baking pan, then smear the dough down onto it, trying to keep it from developing holes, and keeping the edges a bit thicker for crust. You can use a rolling pin if you really want but I find it doesn't help. I'm not brave enough to try spinning it. Once the dough is satisfactory, start garnishing. I start by putting down a bit of the sauce evenly (except for the crust, you need a handle after all), then each of the veggies, then more sauce on top. Finish off with the mozzarella (it'll melt to fill in any gaps, so don't worry about perfect coverage).
Insert pizza on pan into oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown (depending upon your oven and if you did different toppings or put the oil in at a different time, this can easily become 40-60 minutes). Clean up the huge mess you made while waiting. Let the finished pizza cool for a few minutes before serving. Easiest way to serve is to use a spatula to scrape the pizza off the pan and onto a cutting board, and then cut with a bread knife. The underlying dough will be nearly an inch thick, and delicious.
Makes 4 small (lunch sized) servings, or 2 dinner servings. Yum!
Ingredients:
* Hodgson Mill brand Active Dry Yeast (green-brown package, 5/16oz or 8.75g)
* 1 tsp generic sugar (1/4 tsp, then 3/4 tsp)
* 2.5 cups generic flour
* 1-2 cups warm water (as needed, see directions)
* 1 tsp salt
* dried rosemary
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1-15oz can tomato sauce (not paste, not puree, not diced tomatoes)
* assorted spices
* minced garlic (~1 tbsp, I have a jar of this I keep in the fridge)
* fresh tomatoes (1 normal size, or a few small)
* 4 oz mushrooms
* 1 onion
* fresh basil (small amount)
* shredded mozarrella (~1 cup?)
Directions:
This whole thing can take a few hours, but there's a lot of waiting periods. I generally start around 4 or 4:30 for dinner around 6 or 7.
In a large mixing bowl, start the yeast as per the directions on the package: 1/4 cup warm water, 1/4 tsp sugar, yeast, mix. Let sit 5-30 min and make sure it's bubbled after. (I've never had it not, I have no clue what I'd do if it didn't.)
Add 3/4 cup warm water to the big bowl, then slowly add 1 cup flour while mixing, add the 1 tsp salt, add some dried rosemary (it should look pretty when it's mixed in), add the rest of the flour while mixing. Somewhere after the first cup of flour you'll find that the dough ball that you'd created isn't picking up any more flour. Add a bit more warm water, 1/4 cup at a time. I usually end up with 1.25-1.5 cups water total. You want to use the full 2.5 cups of flour, and you want a dough ball at the end, not a mush or dry flour. Let sit for 5-30 minutes. Don't put the flour away yet.
Preheat oven to 450ºF. In a glass or metal bowl (to prevent tomato stains) mix the tomato sauce, assorted spices, and garlic. Chop the veggies. Lightly cover a round baking pan (or pizza stone, or block of wood, my baking pan's around 9" across) with flour. Knead the dough a bit, then mix in the 2 tbsp olive oil. No, it won't really mix in, don't worry about it. Put more flour on your hands and the baking pan, then smear the dough down onto it, trying to keep it from developing holes, and keeping the edges a bit thicker for crust. You can use a rolling pin if you really want but I find it doesn't help. I'm not brave enough to try spinning it. Once the dough is satisfactory, start garnishing. I start by putting down a bit of the sauce evenly (except for the crust, you need a handle after all), then each of the veggies, then more sauce on top. Finish off with the mozzarella (it'll melt to fill in any gaps, so don't worry about perfect coverage).
Insert pizza on pan into oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown (depending upon your oven and if you did different toppings or put the oil in at a different time, this can easily become 40-60 minutes). Clean up the huge mess you made while waiting. Let the finished pizza cool for a few minutes before serving. Easiest way to serve is to use a spatula to scrape the pizza off the pan and onto a cutting board, and then cut with a bread knife. The underlying dough will be nearly an inch thick, and delicious.
Makes 4 small (lunch sized) servings, or 2 dinner servings. Yum!