Friday nights are pizza nights at our house. This is a tradition, as with most of Ben and my food traditions, that is borrowed from countless people. Open a beer, make a martini if you dare (gin only, please), pop in a movie, and enjoy!
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Mozzarella
Toppings
For the dough (borrowed, adapted, and changed weekly from Alice Water's recipe in The Art of Simple Food, which is one of my go-to cookbooks, if you'd like a cookbook suggestion):
Anywhere from 2-5 hours before you want to eat pizza, start this process:
Whisk Together:
1t. active dry yeast (we buy it in big bags and keep it in the freezer in a mason jar)
1/4c. wheat flour
1/4c. white flour (unbleached, please)
2/3c. warm water (it should feel like bathtub water)
- let sit for 30 minutes until bubbly.
Add:
1/2c. warm water
1/4c. olive oil (give or take)
1t. salt (when making bread or pizza dough, a rule of thumb I use is put in equal parts salt and yeast... somehow, the ratio usually works out)
2-3c. of unbleached flour, or enough to make a dough that cleans the bottom of the mixing bowl or, if you're tactile, that feels only slightly sticky to touch but doesn't leave any gunk on your hands when you touch it.
Put the dough in a bowl and cover it with a towel. Let it rise for anywhere from 1-4 hours. The longer it rises, the more flavor it will have (which is true of just about any bread).
This recipe makes about 2 medium-sized pizzas, but I usually cut it in half and make either breakfast foccacia or cinnamon rolls for the next morning with it since there are only two of us eating pizza.*
Tomato Sauce:
Preheat oven to 450.
When tomatoes are not in season, use 16oz canned tomatoes.
When tomatoes are in season, we use whatever tomato has a good texture (i.e. not mealy). Four big heirloom tomatoes cut into 2" pieces should do the trick.
- place tomatoes in an oven-safe pan (we use glass - it's the easiest to clean).
- drizzle pan with olive oil (I've never measured it, but it's probably between 1/8 and 1/4c)
- sprinkle salt and pepper on top
- add a drizzle (probably 1t-1T depending on taste) of balsamic vinegar if you like a sweeter sauce
- you can add dried herbs if you like; I wouldn't add fresh - roasting them at this high of a temperature does not do them justice. Dried are fine because they need the time, heat, and moisture to release their flavors.
Roast in the oven until the tomatoes start to blacken. Don't burn the whole pan, just look for the tops starting to get dark. Your pan will be covered with brownish splotches. It will be okay. Someone smart invented metal scrubbers for that. Teflon and I are in a permanent fight. Non-stick pans would be great if stuff didn't stick to them, inviting me to use whatever is necessary to clean them. Also, you cannot properly whisk custard without a metal whisk. Also, if I want to use a fork to stir my eggs, I am going to use a fork to stir my eggs. We do not own non-stick pans. It's cast-iron, enamel, and stainless steel for us!
Mozzarella:
Making your own is fun. All you need is rennet (sold in most natural food stores) and a gallon of milk and some time to knead the curds into mozzarella balls. You will develop Popeye-like forearms, but it's for a good cause. I couldn't get mine to have a consistent texture, so I've decided to support people who can by buying their cheese. Someday, I will talk about how much I love cheese. And Wisconsin (sorry, Minnesota).
*Breakfast foccacia: super easy => flatten the dough into an oven-safe pan (we use a 9" round casserole, but you could use an 8x8 glass pan or anything that size), pour a bunch of olive oil (probably 1/4c. at least) and honey (2T-1/4c) on top. I top ours with thyme, which has a really interesting flavor with the honey, and a little bit of salt. If we have grapes, they're fabulous on top as well right along with everything else. Bake right along with your pizza, though it might take a little longer; set a timer - I have burnt many a breakfast foccacia by not setting timers.
*Cinnamon rolls: again, super easy => roll out the dough so that it is 1/4" thick. Soften 1/4c. (half of a stick) of butter. Schmear the butter WITH YOUR HANDS all over the surface of the dough. Mix 1/3c. brown sugar and 2t. cinnamon (all cinnamons are not created equal. I recommend Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon; it is seriously life-changing). Sprinkle b.sugar and cinnamon over top. Drizzle with honey or molasses, if you like. Put nuts on if you like. Put raisins on if you like. Roll it up. Cut the rolls into 2" thickness. Put them in a greased oven-safe pan. I put mine in the fridge and pull them out 1 hour before baking (about the same time I start preheating the oven). For frosting, I mix equal parts butter and powdered sugar (you can use cream cheese in place of butter, if you like) and add a little almond or vanilla extract.
There you have it. A super-long and complicated post on a super-simple and delicious meal.
Regarding toppings:
If your pizza does not taste good enough with just sauce, cheese, and crust, adding a bunch of other stuff to it really isn't going to improve it much. I would recommend making cheese pizzas until you get to one that makes you say, "Oh my God this is so good," and then start adding toppings. Adding a bit of homemade sausage (with fennel and chilis, perhaps) to an already amazing pizza makes life worth living.
Things you can do to explore making the perfect cheese pizza (don't do all of these at once, or you'll never isolate which part of the pizza "makes it" for you - do one at a time; it will make a better pizza and it will make you a better cook):
Mess with the flours in the dough, with how long you let it sit, with how thick you roll it, etc.
Try brushing olive oil on the crust before you add the sauce.
Make the sauce a few different ways from a few different recipes.
Add a little parmesan or asiago or whatever sort of cheese you like.
Pizza Dough
Tomato Sauce
Mozzarella
Toppings
For the dough (borrowed, adapted, and changed weekly from Alice Water's recipe in The Art of Simple Food, which is one of my go-to cookbooks, if you'd like a cookbook suggestion):
Anywhere from 2-5 hours before you want to eat pizza, start this process:
Whisk Together:
1t. active dry yeast (we buy it in big bags and keep it in the freezer in a mason jar)
1/4c. wheat flour
1/4c. white flour (unbleached, please)
2/3c. warm water (it should feel like bathtub water)
- let sit for 30 minutes until bubbly.
Add:
1/2c. warm water
1/4c. olive oil (give or take)
1t. salt (when making bread or pizza dough, a rule of thumb I use is put in equal parts salt and yeast... somehow, the ratio usually works out)
2-3c. of unbleached flour, or enough to make a dough that cleans the bottom of the mixing bowl or, if you're tactile, that feels only slightly sticky to touch but doesn't leave any gunk on your hands when you touch it.
Put the dough in a bowl and cover it with a towel. Let it rise for anywhere from 1-4 hours. The longer it rises, the more flavor it will have (which is true of just about any bread).
This recipe makes about 2 medium-sized pizzas, but I usually cut it in half and make either breakfast foccacia or cinnamon rolls for the next morning with it since there are only two of us eating pizza.*
Tomato Sauce:
Preheat oven to 450.
When tomatoes are not in season, use 16oz canned tomatoes.
When tomatoes are in season, we use whatever tomato has a good texture (i.e. not mealy). Four big heirloom tomatoes cut into 2" pieces should do the trick.
- place tomatoes in an oven-safe pan (we use glass - it's the easiest to clean).
- drizzle pan with olive oil (I've never measured it, but it's probably between 1/8 and 1/4c)
- sprinkle salt and pepper on top
- add a drizzle (probably 1t-1T depending on taste) of balsamic vinegar if you like a sweeter sauce
- you can add dried herbs if you like; I wouldn't add fresh - roasting them at this high of a temperature does not do them justice. Dried are fine because they need the time, heat, and moisture to release their flavors.
Roast in the oven until the tomatoes start to blacken. Don't burn the whole pan, just look for the tops starting to get dark. Your pan will be covered with brownish splotches. It will be okay. Someone smart invented metal scrubbers for that. Teflon and I are in a permanent fight. Non-stick pans would be great if stuff didn't stick to them, inviting me to use whatever is necessary to clean them. Also, you cannot properly whisk custard without a metal whisk. Also, if I want to use a fork to stir my eggs, I am going to use a fork to stir my eggs. We do not own non-stick pans. It's cast-iron, enamel, and stainless steel for us!
Mozzarella:
Making your own is fun. All you need is rennet (sold in most natural food stores) and a gallon of milk and some time to knead the curds into mozzarella balls. You will develop Popeye-like forearms, but it's for a good cause. I couldn't get mine to have a consistent texture, so I've decided to support people who can by buying their cheese. Someday, I will talk about how much I love cheese. And Wisconsin (sorry, Minnesota).
*Breakfast foccacia: super easy => flatten the dough into an oven-safe pan (we use a 9" round casserole, but you could use an 8x8 glass pan or anything that size), pour a bunch of olive oil (probably 1/4c. at least) and honey (2T-1/4c) on top. I top ours with thyme, which has a really interesting flavor with the honey, and a little bit of salt. If we have grapes, they're fabulous on top as well right along with everything else. Bake right along with your pizza, though it might take a little longer; set a timer - I have burnt many a breakfast foccacia by not setting timers.
*Cinnamon rolls: again, super easy => roll out the dough so that it is 1/4" thick. Soften 1/4c. (half of a stick) of butter. Schmear the butter WITH YOUR HANDS all over the surface of the dough. Mix 1/3c. brown sugar and 2t. cinnamon (all cinnamons are not created equal. I recommend Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon; it is seriously life-changing). Sprinkle b.sugar and cinnamon over top. Drizzle with honey or molasses, if you like. Put nuts on if you like. Put raisins on if you like. Roll it up. Cut the rolls into 2" thickness. Put them in a greased oven-safe pan. I put mine in the fridge and pull them out 1 hour before baking (about the same time I start preheating the oven). For frosting, I mix equal parts butter and powdered sugar (you can use cream cheese in place of butter, if you like) and add a little almond or vanilla extract.
There you have it. A super-long and complicated post on a super-simple and delicious meal.
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