Pizza, until recently, was a rarity in this house. The reasons are numerous: our favorite delivery place closed down, Joseph has never been a fan (seriously, at birthday parties he'd search out the veggie platter intended for the adults rather than deign to eat a slice of pizza!), we worried Miriam had a dairy allergy which meant that neither she nor I could eat it until we sorted that out ...
Poor Hannah LOVES pizza. Many a stranger has remarked at the way she folds her pizza in half and shovels it in NY-style, rather than insist on its being cut into little cubes the way other toddlers seem to. But, save for the occasional birthday party, she has been largely denied.
Miriam's dairy issues have been sorted out (not a true allergy, and cheese and yogurt seem to be just fine), but Joseph would still crinkle up his nose and say "Well, I am NOT eating THAT. You KNOW I don't like pizza," if anyone ever suggested grabbing a couple of slices as an easy way to feed the kids. I even offered him a white slice at the local pizzeria, but he wouldn't hear of it.
A few weeks ago I got a bee in my bonnet. I don't really remember why. But I love making bread and thought maybe, just maybe, if we made pizza at home and I let Joseph help he'd give it a try and, gasp, actually like it.
Wouldn't you know it worked. Now we have pizza once a week. Tonight will be a good night since we have little else in the house and already have plans to eat most of our meals out this weekend.
So, as I get ready to go into the kitchen and make the dough, I thought I'd share the crust recipe that seems to be the favorite (I've experimented a lot) and a few pictures of the work in progress.
For the crust, I've been doing a
whole wheat recipe I got out of a recent issue of Martha Stewart's
Everyday Food. I figure since it's virtually impossible to duplicate pizzeria crust at home, might as well go a little healthier. Besides, it's Joseph's favorite.
Whole Wheat Pizza Crust:
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm (115 degrees) water
- 2 packets ( ounce each) active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for bowl
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for kneading
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
Directions
- Place water in a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Brush another large bowl with oil.
- In bowl with yeast, whisk sugar, oil, and salt. Stir in flours with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms. Transfer to oiled bowl; brush top of dough with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. With floured hands, knead until smooth, about 15 seconds; divide into two balls.
- Set balls on a plate (they should not touch); freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Then freeze in a freezer bag up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator.
- Divide each ball of dough into 4 pieces. Using your hands, stretch each piece into a 5-inch disk (if dough becomes too elastic to work with, let it rest a few minutes). Freeze shells on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Stack frozen shells between layers of parchment paper. Freeze in a freezer bag up to 3 months. Bake from frozen.
Note: I haven't been freezing my shells. I find I can divide the dough and leave it in the fridge for at least as long as it takes me to finish off a doubled batch. So, I divide my dough and put each little ball in it's own Ziploc bag and take it out when I'm ready to make pizza. By the time the oven is preheated, the dough is ready to shape.
To cook the pizza: Take dough or crust out of the fridge/freezer. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Sprinkle cooking tray with cornmeal. When the oven is ready: shape your pizza, put it on your pan, and top as desired -- MINUS the cheese.
That's Joe's white pizza on the left. I grind up a little rosemary, mix it with extra virgin olive oil, brush it on to the crust, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Hannah likes red sauce, so I just use whatever basic pasta sauce we have in the cabinet. My favorite is sausage, onion, and mushroom. Adam likes everything and the kitchen sink (though he is much chagrined about the whole wheat crust!).
You will notice that I'm not using a pizza stone. I have one, but honestly can't tell the difference between the pizza I've cooked on the stone and that that I've cooked on this aluminum jelly roll pan. And I don't have to handle a blazing hot pizza stone when I use the pan, so the stone will now forever be reserved for artisan breads.
I digress. At this point, cook the pizza for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, add cheese, and cook for another 7 minutes or so, depending on how bubbly and/or browned you like your cheese. (Again, Adam is much chagrined that I use part-skim mozzarella, but it's what they have at Whole Foods, so it's what I buy.)
I think I left these in a little long, but you will notice Miriam up there didn't mind one bit.
Tonight this will be dinner, but it also makes a good afternoon snack for the kids. Enjoy!
