Ahhh. . . . Pizza.
Sorry to be so delinquent recently but I’ve been busy cooking in the kitchen, testing recipes to share with you and interviewing rock stars. More great posts (from and for real rock stars) will be coming your way this year and hopefully, more regularly.
Meanwhile, the topic of pizza is usually greeted with love by most people. Hot, gooey, crispy-of-crust, what’s not to love? Here’s a tip: making your own pizza at home is cheaper, healthier, and as delicious as the take out/restaurant variety. I use a basic dough recipe and sometimes switch the toppings like the choice of cheeses, veggies, etc. to keep things interesting.
Here’s a great homemade pizza recipe that I use. The crispy base is delicious ( I use half wholewheat flour to make it a bit healthier) and you can choose your own toppings such as white pizza made with ricotta and mozzarella, tomato, mozz and basil, pesto and gruyere, or heaping with veggies or sausages. The toppings can be whatever you crave.
Ingredients:
• 2 1/2 lbs. strong white bread flour (you can substitute half of the flour with wholewheat flour or just use all white )
and handful of ground semolina flour
• 1 level tablespoon sea salt
• 1 Tablespoon (15 g) dried yeast
• 1 Tsp. sugar
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 and a half cups lukewarm water plus 1/2 cup room temperature milk
How To:
Mix the flour/s and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a bowl or jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil with the water and milk and leave to sit for a few minutes, then pour into the flour/salt well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, bouncy dough.
Put the dough into a dry bowl, cover the top with a clean cloth and stick it in a dry place (a turned off oven is good) for at least two hours for the dough to rise to about twice its size.
Turn the oven on to highest setting ( a pizza stones is perfect to raise the temperature of your oven) after removing the dough. Turn the dough onto a flour-dusted surface and knead it for about 3 minutes, adding some flour if it gets too sticky. Divide the dough up into about four balls – this amount of dough is enough to make about 4 medium pizzas or about 3 large ones.
Roll the pizzas out to fit your pizza pans and sprinkle some of the semolina on the pans before placing the dough onto them. Then top the pizzas with sauces, cheeses, etc. pop into the oven, and bake them for about 8 – 12 minutes depending on your oven temp. I drizzle mine with a stream of extra virgin olive oil when they are done cooking. Mangia you sweet little rock and rollers.
