Sunday, June 3, 2012

Homemade Pizza

I just thought today, I'd go with a standard.  I've been trying to make Pizza for a few years, and I've found things I've liked in various recipes, and things I haven't liked.  The recipe for the dough is a variation on a couple different recipes.  The method for cooking it is a variation on something I found in a Mario Batalli cookbook, although pretty liberally adapted.  This recipe calls for vegetable toppings, but you can really top it with whatever you want.  So, here goes:

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 1/4 c. Hot Water

2 1/2 t. Active Dry Yeast

1 1/2 t. Sugar

2 c. Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/2 c. All Purpose Flour (I prefer unbleached)

1 1/2 t. Salt

1/4 c. Olive Oil

Toppings:
1 c. Marinara Sauce  
(I know, it breaks my no-can rule, but I'll post a recipe for it later)


Various Vegetable Toppings
(Or meaty toppings, if you like)
*In honor of Trinity Sunday, I'm doing THREE vegetables: Squash, Onion and Bell Pepper. 

2. T. Olive Oil.

2 c. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1 T. Garlic Powder

1 T. Oregano

Directions:
1.  Wisk the water, Sugar and Yeast together.  Set the mixture aside for 10 min. until it gets foamy on top.

2.  Put the Flour and Salt together in a Kitchen Aid Mixer with a dough hook.  Start it on low, and slowly pour in the Yeast mixture and Olive Oil.  Let it mix together thoroughly.
*You can do this all in a large mixing bowl.  Use a wooden spoon to stir everything together and then knead for 8 - 10 min.  

3.  Oil a large mixing bowl.  Put the dough in it.  Turn the dough over once, to cover it in oil.  Cover with a tea towel, and let it rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hrs.

Dough!

4.  Just before getting ready to roll out the dough, preheat a large oiled cast iron skillet over medium-low heat.  Let it get as hot as possible before cooking.

5.  Punch the dough down.  Cut it in half.  Put half in the refrigerator for later use or use it for bread sticks.  With the remaining dough, roll it into a ball.  Then, with a rolling pin, roll out on a well-floured surface into a large round pizza crust shape.

6.  Carefully place the rolled out dough into the preheated cast iron skillet.  Move it around as quickly as possible to center it, as it will start cooking immediately.  With a fork, press the dough around the sides of the skillet to create a lip around the edge of the dough.  Then, stab several holes on the bottom of the crust to keep it from bubbling up.


7.  Cook the crust apx. 5. min. until dark brown on the bottom, when you lift it.  Then, transfer the crust to a pizza stone or grill.

Trinity of Vegetable
8.  In the skillet, heat 2 T. of Olive Oil, and sauté the vegetables, just enough that they stay a little crisp, but are hot.

9.  Preheat an oven with a broiler to 350ºF. (177ºC).  

10.  With a spoon, spread the Marinara Sauce onto the Pizza crust.  Then, top it with the sautéed vegetables.  Sprinkle on the Garlic Powder and Oregano.  After than, sprinkle the cheese on, covering the pizza evenly, making sure you cover it to the edges.

Sans Cheese

11. Place the Pizza on the stone or pan on the top rack of the oven.  Then, set the broiler to low.  Broil it for about 4-5 minutes, just to where the cheese is melting.  Turn the Pizza 1/4 Turn and continue to broil the pizza until the cheese starts to brown.

12.  Take the Pizza out.  Slice up and enjoy!

Kristen nom-nom-noming her first piece

6 comments:

  1. Squash on pizza? I would never have thought of that. Hmmmm. I wonder if sweet potato chunks would do as well...

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  2. I think there's almost nothing that is bad on Pizza. Think, pineapple...Who'd have thought of that? The squash originally made its way onto Pizza a few months ago because it's what we had in the fridge. Now it goes on every time. Sweet Potatoes? Why not? Might be good together with cheddar cheese and barbecue sauce.

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  3. Ham & pineapple & black olives is one of my favorite ways to top a pizza. :)

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  4. I wish there was a way to make pizza diabetic-friendly, but the carbs in the crust are absolutely outrageous. Last week I ate an entire frozen pizza and my glucose did rather spike.

    grrrrr....I miss pizza so much!

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  5. Olives on anything are scrumptious. I do love ham, olive and pineapple on Pizza.

    I wonder if there are any low-glycemic options for a crust. Perhaps a quinoa or semolina flour. I don't know if that would make a difference, or even work to make a crust.

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  6. Whole grain is usually the way to go. My husband is also going to use some bean flour to make flatbread; this is higher in protein, which is important for diabetics, and one also gets fiber as well. I can but try it!

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