Pizza from Scratch- Yes, You Can.
Posted on 29 July 2008 by joy
I don’t care how hot it gets in my apartment. I will happily turn my humble oven up to the required 450 degrees F if I know that a delicious pizza will come out of that oven 10 minutes later.
I’m not a pizza making expert. Ok, the truth is, I’ve never made a pizza before in my life. I don’t think those English Muffin pizzas I made as a kid count. So this was my first introduction in to the pizza making world. I have to say, it was so easy!
Maybe you didn’t understand. Put down the phone. Forget the number to Domino’s. Pizza is so easy to make! You can do it yourself. You don’t need a pizza stone. You don’t need a fancy oven. You don’t even need cornmeal. You can do it. I wouldn’t lie to you.
Start by making the pizza dough. It’s easier than you think.
Easy Pizza Dough
makes about a 12 inch pie
recipe from Smitten Kitchen
3 cups flour (can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)
2 tablespoon olive oil
Stir dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil, stirring mixture into as close to a ball as you can. Dump all clumps and floury bits onto a lightly floured surface and knead everything into a homogeneous ball.
If you are finding this step difficult, one of the best tricks I picked up from my bread-making class is to simply pause. Leave the dough in a lightly-floured spot, put the empty bowl upside-down on top of it and come back in 2 to 5 minutes, at which point you will find the dough a lot more lovable.
This is what the pizza dough looks like after the first knead.
Knead it for just a minute or two. Lightly oil the bowl (a spritz of cooking spray perfectly does the trick) where you had mixed it — one-bowl recipe! —
dump the dough in, turn it over so all sides are coated, cover it in plastic wrap and leave it undisturbed for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size.
Dump it back on the floured counter (yup, I leave mine messy), and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hands. Fold the piece into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.
After dumping it out after the first rise.
After pressing the some of the air out and forming into a ball again. It’s smoother! Now rest for 20 minutes more.
Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and preheat your oven to its top temperature. I used a baking sheet, turned upside down, covered with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Super easy! Roll out the pizza, toss on whatever topping and seasonings you like. (I always err on the side of skimpy with toppings so to not weight down the dough too much, or if I have multiple toppings, to keep them very thinly sliced.)
Bake it for about 10 minutes until it’s lightly blistered and impossible to resist.
Pepperoni and Black Olive Pizza, Heavy on the Sauce
1 1/4 cup pizza sauce (I bought mine from Trader Joe’s. It’s great!)
1 1/2 to 2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup sliced black olives
as much pepperoni as you can layer onto the pizza.
Once the dough is rested and rolled, spread the sauce over the pizza and layer with cheese. Top with olives and pepperoni and bake at 450 for 10-13 minutes. So good!
Tags | easy dinner, family dining, pizza, recipe
