Pizza

In essence pizza is a yeast dough base with a topping. Everyone who loves pizza has a good idea of what that should be, but when you make it yourself you are free to try all sorts of experiments. Don’t be afraid to innovate. For example, skip the tomato sauce, cover the dough with pesto, sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese or fresh Mozzarella, and top with thinly sliced fresh tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.

 

Start the dough about an hour and a half ahead of your planned cooking time. If you have a bread machine, you can use it to mix the dough and let it rise.

 

MAKES 2 12-INCH PIZZAS

 

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup water 105˚F to 115˚F

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

About 2 tablespoons cornmeal for dusting the pans

 

Tomato sauce, about 2 cups or 16 ounces of ready made or home made tomato sauce

 

Cheese, about 2 cups or 8 ounces of shredded mozzarella or a combination of mozzarella and other cheeses such as Provolone, Asiago, Romano, Parmesan

 

Toppings, not required but totally up to you. Consider:

Pepperoni

Peppers

Mushrooms

Onions

Olives

Anchovies

Fresh herbs, such as basil

Artichoke hearts

Raw spinach leaves

 

. . . . . . . .

 

Instructions: 

▪ Gently stir the yeast into ¼ cup of the warm water and let it sit for about five minutes. It should become foamy, indicating that the yeast is active.

 

▪ Mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture, the remaining warm water and the olive oil. When the ingredients are all combined, form the dough into a ball and knead it for about 5 minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic.

 

▪ Put the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a clean cloth, and let it sit in a warm place for about an hour to rise. It should be about double in bulk.

 

▪ When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 500˚F. Dust two baking sheets with about a tablespoon of cornmeal each.

 

▪ Divide the dough into two equal pieces and roll each out into a circle about 10 inches in diameter. Place on the baking sheets.

 

▪ For a traditional cheese pizza, spoon tomato sauce onto the dough, sprinkle with cheese, and add your toppings of choice.

 

▪ Bake the pizza for 8 minutes and check it. It is done when the crust is golden and the cheese is melted.