Home Made Pizza

So what makes a great pizza, is it the crust?  Is it the sauce? Is it the ratio of cheese to sauce? Yes, yes it is.  This process/ recipe is something I've been working on for somewhere around 12 years.  I love a crispy thin crust pizza which is not an easy thing to get at home, BUT I have managed to achieve it.  This may sound like a tedious process for a pizza but believe me, it is well worth it.


Start by making the pizza crust.

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg Active Dry Yeast
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• 1 1/2 cups Flour
• 2/3 cups Water
• Some Cornmeal
• Spices

Tools:

• Pizza stone
• Dough docker
• Cutting board
• Mixer or mixing bowl
• Measuring cup
• Kitchen thermometer

First, put the flour into a mixing bowl.

Then jump over to the sink and put 1/4 to 1/2 cup 110 - 115 degree water in the measuring cup.  The water temperature is important.  Think of the yeast as living.  If the water is 110 - 115 degrees, it will expand which is what makes the dough rise.  If the temperature is too low, the yeast will not rise.  If the temperature is above 120 degrees, it can die and will not expand.  Add 1 packet of yeast and 1 tsp. of sugar at this time and stir.  The yeast will take about 10 minutes to expand. 

When it's done it should look like this.

While I am waiting for this to happen, I mix my secret blend of spices in with the flour.

It's time to make the dough.  Add the yeast mixture to the flour.  Now add about another 1/3 cup of water.  The amount of water you actually need to add will change depending on weather and humidity so keep some water and flour handy in case you need to adjust the mixture.  Next you need to knead the dough.  I use a mixer with a dough hook.  There is no magic amount of time you need to knead the dough, you just need to knead it till the texture is right.  The texture of the dough should be cohesive but not too sticky.  You should be able to press a finger into the dough and not have it stick.

Like this ->

<- Now put the dough in a bowl and cover, like this.

The dough needs to sit for at least 30 minutes, 1 hour is a better.  The dough should double in size during this time.  While you are waiting, you can get out a cutting board and spread some fine ground cornmeal.

Now, roll the dough out to about 15" and then roll it with a dough docker.  The docker will put perforations in the dough and keep it from bubbling in the oven.

Don't worry about putting too much cornmeal.  What is under the dough will stick to it and keep it from getting stuck to the pizza stone.  The rest of the cornmeal will  make a mess on the counter.

Don't roll over it more than once though unless you like a hard, inedible pizza crust in the shape of a taco.  I learn a lot of lessons the hard way. 

Moving on... Heat your oven to 400 degrees with the pizza stone inside.  I don't leave the stone in much past the preheating stage, but I have read it takes much longer for these stones to properly heat up.  These instructions will serve my purposes of distributing heat evenly for my crust to rise.  Transfer the dough to the pizza stone and pinch the edges.  This is a good time to take a basting brush and brush some butter/earth balance (non-dairy butter replacement)/olive oil on the top the dough.  This will help the edges to brown and become crispy and tasty.  Put it in the oven for 5 minutes.  This is enough time for the crust to rise.  This prevents the dough from remaining soggy in the sauce covered center.  Speaking of sauce, it's time.


I use Green Mill pizza sauce.  It's a bit thicker than pasta sauce but thinner and way more flavored than tomato paste. It's found in a different aisle of my grocery store than the pasta sauce.  This is a great time to add other seasonings like crushed red pepper.  For cheese, I use Organic Valley mozzarella cheese, extra soft with a bite.  I hear Follow Your Heart is a good vegan substitute, and I'm told it actually melts.

Put it in the oven, this time directly on the rack for about another 7-10 minutes.  The dough will be firm enough to support itself on the rack and this direct heat will make the crust nice and crispy.  Enjoy!

YUM!