[I'm taking a blogging break until 5/31, so am putting up favorite food posts from the archives in the interim]
Can we call this national make-pizza-at-home week? That would make me really happy. Why? Because pizza at home is so good, so easy, and so so affordable. But what I want to focus on here is the EASY part. This is why I really loved Sam Sifton’s NYTimes mag article on pizza (except for that truly shameless plug of Jay McInerny’s new book—are they pals? Really had to stretch even to make sense). But: Pizza at home IS so easy it got me wanting to make pizza for breakfast: bacon and eggs pizza? Why not?!
I loved his stressing the fact that you don’t have to have a stone oven that goes to 800 degrees to make pizza (or even a stone). When I make pizza for the family, one of the pies goes on a stone but the other goes on a regular baking sheet. And guess what—it’s just as good! Want to try a fun method? Bake it on an inverted cast iron pan! That works great, too!
The basic bread dough ratio, as I’ve said before, as I demo in the promo video for the new book, as I showed on CBS with Harry and Maggie (thanks for linking Bob and for the Plato ref!), as is well known as a baker’s percentage: is in essence this: 5 : 3, flour to water. Works great for pizza dough as well.
For one decent pie for two, I use 10 ounces flour and 6 ounces water (plus a four-fingered pinch of yeast and a couple four-fingered pinches kosher salt). I double it if all of us are eating. Notice the Times recipe, adapted from the lovable curmudgeon Jeff Steingarten. It uses 3 cups flour to the same amount of water I call for for about 4 CUPS give or take. That's 25% more water! What does this mean?! Which is correct?! Oh no! What should I do?! Who’s right?!
All it means is that one dough will be a little wetter than the other. They’ll both be delicious. Watch Jill on the Times video. You can see her dough is slack and sticky. I think that makes it hard to work with, but I know that it will make good pizza crust and will be easier to thin out. Mine will be easier to work with at first but will need some resting when I roll and stretch it out. I actually think Jill is making it unnecessarily complicated (bread flour? AP flour? both? Hint: they both work great! Don't not make pizza because you don't have bread dough—10 to 1 you wouldn't be able to tell the difference if you compared the two). But I love her videos anyways because they’re clever and she’s so damned cute in that tiny kitchen of hers.
Yeast. Is the amount critical? No. Which is why I now measure by sight for easy flat breads like pizza dough. You just need to recognize that if you only use an eighth of a teaspoon it’s going to take a lot longer to rise than if you used a teaspoon (which is just right for 15 or 20 ounces of flour).
So mix all these ingredients together, add some olive oil for flavor if you’re feeling springtime in the air. Mix it long enough so that it’s smooth and elastic (it needs to be able to stretch with the gas bubbles the yeast produces). Let it rise for two or three hours. And that’s it. It’s ready to go or to be refrigerated till you need it. That’s another thing I was glad to see the article note. You can keep this dough in the fridge for a week. You can probably freeze it (don’t see why not, though I’ve never tried). So if you want to make the breakfast pizza for your lover next Sunday, mid-morning, make the dough this week. (Or get up earlier--you can actually do the below recipe from ingredients to table in 2 hours if you push it a little.)
After the yeast has had some time to get moving, roll the dough out. It will resist you and want to spring back. It needs to rest in between rolling. When it’s shaped as you wish, cover it with whatever you wish and bake it in a 450 degree oven. That’s all there is to it. It's one of the easiest dough preparations there is.
One tricky issue: if you’re baking on a stone rather than on a sheet tray you've got to get the pizza onto it. The pizza will be heavy with ingredients. I don’t have a peel, so I use a cutting board dusted with flour, cornmeal or semolina and those fine grains act like ball bearings. If you use a baking sheet this isn't an issue. Does a baking sheet give you a different crust than the stone? Yeah, a little bit, but not so much that you shouldn’t make pizza at home because you don’t have a stone, or peel, or a standing mixer. A bowl, two hands, and an oven work great!
Pizza at home, it’s so good so cheap, and so satisfying. Bake some this week and post about it! Honestly, if you've never done it before but like to cook, you'll never want to pay 20 bucks for pizza you can make better at home!
Spring Is In the Air Breakfast Pizza:
Homemade Pizza with Bacon, Egg and Asparagus
This is a recipe for one small pizza to share with your partner on a mid-Sunday morning. The quickest I’ve done it is in two hours (you can hurry it by doubling the yeast and using warm water in the dough), but you might want to make the dough a day or two before. Because it’s small—it will give you a ball of dough the size of a softball—it’s quickest just to mix and knead it by hand. If you want to feed more people, it can be doubled for a large pizza or two small pizzas.
—10 ounces flour (two cups)
—6 ounces water (if it’s warm the yeast will work faster, if it’s really really hot you can kill the yeast)
—Big pinch of yeast (½ teaspoon)
—2 big pinches salt (1 teaspoon)
—A drizzle of olive oil for flavor (optional: I don’t know if you can even taste it in small amounts, but you could make an argument that the dough will be more tender if you add it. Do you want tender pizza dough?)
—¾ cup grated cheese (I used ½ cup mozzarella and ¼ asiago)
—4 to 6 thick strips of bacon cut into strips or and sautéed till tender but not overcooked
—6 to 8 asparagus spears (2 to 4 inch tender tops only) brushed or tossed with olive oil
—1 or 2 eggs (cracked into separate small bowls or ramekins to make sure you don't break the yolk and for easy application)
1. Well before you want your pizza (at least two hours and up to a week), combine the flour, water, yeast, salt (and olive oil if you’re using it). Mix and kneed the dough till it’s smooth and elastic, about ten mintues (this is easiest to do by hand because there's so little of it, so if it does happen to be Sunday morning, have your partner read the Modern Love essay in the Times Styles section while you kneed—when he/she is done, so will your dough).
2. Put it in a bowl, cover it and leave it alone for 2 or 3 hours (a finger indentation should not bounce back but nor should the dough be slack with air, but for pizza this isn't really critical).
3. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
4. Re-knead the dough to redistribute the yeast (or remove your dough from the fridge if you’ve done it ahead of time), form it into a ball, then let it rest covered with a towel for 10 or 15 minutes while you get the other ingredients together. Using a rolling pin, roll it out on a floured board. You may want to roll it out half way, let it rest, then roll or pull the dough into its final shape.
5. Transfer the dough to a board or peal dusted with flour, semolina, or corn meal or to a baking sheet if using. Sprinkle with the cheese, distribute the bacon and asparagus. Put the pizza in the oven (or slide it from the board or peel onto a baking stone) and bake it for about 10 minutes. Pour an egg into the center or on either side of the pizza and continue baking until the egg white is set and the yolk is still fluid, about 5 or 10 more minutes.
Yeast Update: one commenter asked about yeast and I thought I should address it here. There are several kinds of yeast available. The ones I want to talk about are the dried kind (not the fresh), Active dried yeast and Instant dried yeast. Active dry yeast has a coating of dead yeast that must dissolve for the live yeast to begin feeding. Often the yeast instructions ask you to dissolve them in warm water (to make sure they work), but I don't do this and my doughs are fine. Some recipes have you dissolve yeast in sugar water to "proof" them, but you shouldn't need to do this either (unless you've left your jar of yeast out in the hot sun for a week). The instant yeast has a coating of live yeast and so is a little stronger by weight than Active. In my experience, both work equally well and I can't tell the difference so as far as I'm concerned they are interchangeable. Pro bakers I've encountered tend to recommend SAF yeast, a brand; SAF acquired Red Star, and it's now the same yeast, so that's what I buy (in a jar, and I keep it in the freezer).
New Diarist
An alternative to baking your pizza on an inverted cast iron skillet is to bake it [i]inside[/i] that cast iron skillet.
I realize that Chicago pan pizza has its detractors. However, even using a moderate amount of dough, the same as one would use in a regular thin crust pizza, can produce wonderfully different results in a cast iron skillet. the skillet directs the heat all around the pizza, resulting in an even, textured, chewy crust, chees that is melted just so, and a pie [i]par excellence[/i].
Coco @ Opera Girl Cooks
Thanks for the info on yeast -- I didn't know about SAF acquiring Red Star, or the difference b/t active and instant dried yeast. Very interesting!
Michael
An inverted cast iron skillet is a great surface to bake bread on as well.
The heavy iron holds heat well, and gives you a nice oven spring.
Why buy a $50 rock to put in your oven when you can use a skillet that's also a skillet?
Jim
This was terrific. We love making pizza at home, it's a great weekend alternative and there is plenty for the kids to do as well. Blogged about our experiences a while back, here's a post:
http://www.ithinkthisworldisperfect.com/2008/04/weekend-pizza-at-home.html
Matt
Best cheap alternative to a pizza stone is to get unglazed quarry tile -- hard to find at Home Depot or Lowe's, but you can find it online easily. Emphasis on *unglazed*, as the glazing contains lead.
Get you a bunch of 6x6 tiles and you can make an 18X18 square stone for a paltry few dollars, just a bare fraction of the cost of a pizza stone, and it's the same material. Even better, when you're done you can stack the tiles in a little pile, so they take up much less cabinet space.
Tom
I have actually started to grill my pizzas most of the time. I find that it results in a delicious crust which is cripsy on both sides and chewy in the middle. I grill the crust for about three of four minutes over medium heat and then flip it over, add the toppings, and grill on medium-low for around ten minutes. It is great!
I like some some fresh mozzerella, some slivers of roasted red peppers, a little arrugula, and some tomato chunks.
John Gutekanst
Great job on the pie Michael! The egg...perfect. Hey, I'm shorthanded down here in Athens...you'd make a great pizzaiola!
Have you ever tried using parchment paper? For me, it eliminates alot of hassle-especially when cooking with kids.
Right on with the ratio and yeast also. I always mix the Red Star yeast into the dried flour as it gives a better distribution.
Susan
I make pizza at home most of the time, too. (there is one place in the SF bay area where I live that is so superior to mine that I indulge occasionally, still) I've learned from the various types of breads that I've experimented with that the amount of yeast to use is pretty flexible as long as it's given the right amount of time and environment. I don't love a really yeasty flavor to bread so tend to always use less than called for with no problem in the rise. I also rise in the draft-free oven with a pan of hot water to humidify the environment. That seems to do more than anything else to get the dough working well, at least here in the dry California summers!
Sometimes I just make focaccia or breadsticks with the dough to have with other meals. Whipped up in the food processor or mixer, it's a snap to throw together if pressed for time, but by hand isn't that much more of a time drain. Bread making is mostly downtime, and with a refridgerator, you can slow any action to buy even more time to do other things. I can't believe I thought breadmaking was such a big deal all those years!
Andrew
I've frozen pizza dough, sometimes for months (I let it proof overnight in the fridge and then toss it into the freezer). When I'm ready to use it I just take it out of the freezer in the morning and by the time I come home, it is ready to go. Never noticed any issue with quality, which means that when I make pizza dough, I make plenty to freeze.
pushpush
One way around the issue of having difficulty getting a heavy fully loaded uncooked pizza on the stone is to cook it in two steps:
1: place the uncooked, rolled out dough w/ sauce on your preheated stone
2: Bake dough and sauce for 4-5 min
3: slide the oven rack holding your pizza stone + half cooked pizza out of the oven long enough for you to sprinkle the rest of your toppings over the sauce
4: finish baking for another 4-5 min
Additional benefit is that the crust gets a bit more crisp and develops lovely air bubble pockets from hitting the hot stone without being over burdened by a lot of toppings at the start of cooking. A fair amount of the moisture that may be in your sauce will also evaporate in the 1st five minutes and will help prevent soggy sloppy pizzas.
Paul C
I often build my pizza on a sheet of parchment paper and then put the whole thing paper and all onto the hot pizza stone.
However my trick to a perfect pizza is to heat up a cast iron griddle on the cooktop until it's super hot. At the same time turn on the broiler. Slide the pizza onto the griddle and then chuck the griddle into the broiler.
A lightly topped pizza will cook in as short as 5 minutes and this is about as close as you can get to the temps of a proper pizza oven without spending a ton of cash.
Also I sometimes replace half the water in my dough with white wine.
RobbingPeter
OK, it's sitting on my counter in the rising stage.
I used my Kitchen Aide for the mixing part because I was making lunch for my family at the same time. My 3 year old wanted to "help" so I gave him the duty of holding down the base of my mixer so it wouldn't walk off the counter.
Thank you for the inspiration - we will be having pizza tonight, and I do have a pizza peel.
DALE J
I make, perhaps, 15 pizze a year. An article in Cook's Illustrated a half dozen years ago changed my pizza making. I now roll the dough over parchment paper and under clingfilm. I can get that sucker so I can see through it. Remove the film, trim the paper and slide it onto a gas grille with toppings on. The Margharita is the norm. If I'm at 450 or 500 its done in minutes. Slide it off the paper onto the plate and EAT!
Natalie Sztern
I have to come clean, I am a lazy cook. Au Pain Dore on Monkland Ave in Montreal sells frozen pizza dough. Defrost and let it rise in the oven...start to roll it and stretch it only by fist and hand...never with a rolling pin...let it rest a little more...and voila, the best pizza dough in the city.
And in the summer I find it sacriligious to bake it in anything but my grill.
JW
Has anyone tried the method Batali describes in his new book. Basically, you "par" cook the dough on a hot griddle or cast iron pan (both sides) then finish cooking under the broiler after adding the toppings. The broiler will give the crust a sort of char you won't get from strait baking. I haven't purchased the book, but I assume you would preheat the oven/stone as well giving the pie the effect of a real pizza oven. This would work great for larger parties as you could par-cook several pies cooking each one at the last minute. Also avoids the problem of getting the dough off the peel.
As for me, I recently finished my wood-fired oven, so I'm unlikely to try the above unless I'm at someone else' house.
Sean
I did something similar when I was making a bunch of pizzas for my nieces and their friends. I Started the dough on the grill, a couple of minutes on each side. I then took the inside, put the toppings on, and put them in a very hot oven to cook the toppings and melt the cheese. The crusts had a great char to them, and the toppings cooked quickly in the oven.
Meredith
If the dough is already made, pizza at home is so easy! I made a delicious pizza last night with ramps, bacon, and gruyere.
Amber
If you go for thin-crust pizza, you needn't leave the dough to rise at all. I use a 3:1 ratio for flour & water and always use 1/3 - 1/2 whole wheat flour, which makes it much easier to shape into the final product.
I've been making regular pizza at home for a couple years but just started with the thin-crust. Don't give it rise-time, just roll it out to maybe 1/4 to 1/8 inch or so then bake like normal. You have to put less toppings or it gets overwhelmed but cuts down on prep time by a lot. Really nice w/ thin-sliced veggies, jalapeno, etc.
Carol Alaniz
I make homemade pizza a few times a year. I should make it more often. Husband and I eat it, as my 24 year old son won't touch it (yeah, he doesn't know what he's missing). Our favorite pizza is veggie--onions, green pepper and cheese. Sometimes we'll change it up by putting on ham, pineapple, and black olives. I want to try homemade pizza with fresh spinach and avocado--that will be the next one!
By the way: My husband and I made the Macaroni and Beef last week. We made one pan full, it came out great. Reminded my husband of what his mom used to make, almost the same thing-- cooked in a skillet on the stove, with cheese mixed in, not baked in oven.
Caroline
I cannot vouch for this recipe and technique enough-- just look at this crust! This time of year I like to throw my pizza stone on the grill and make it outside.
In my experience, the dough does not stretch as well after it's been stored in the fridge. I'm not sure if this is because of the cold or because of the longer resting period, but I do try to let it come to room temperature before using. The stored dough is certainly good, but if you're trying to get the crust really thin I'd recommend using it right after it's done rising.
Chris K
I make pizza at home with a variation on the "no-knead bread dough" recipe popularized in the NYT, created by Chef John over at http://www.foodwishes.com. It's stupid easy, yields four 9" thin-crust pizzas, and freezes well. I just thaw it in the fridge and let it come to room temperature before using.
We like to throw make-your-own-pizza dinner parties. The crusts get par-baked on the grill and set out buffet-style along side bowls filled with toppings and sauces, then finished on the grill or in the oven.
It's fun to involve our guests in preparing the meal, and a great way to introduce kids to cooking.
craigkite
I gave up on pizza sauce during tomato season. I use a good bread knife, sliver a tomato paper thin and put it on an uncooked crust that has had olive oil drizzled on it. Chiffonade some basil on it...then do whatever else suits you. Fresh shrooms and a grated cheese does it for me. I have been using Michael's pizza dough recipe/ratio since he posted it the first time. Not as good as Betty White's muffin, but what is?
Carrie
I love this post - it's really what started my whole at home food revolution last year. I used to stop by Dominoes every Thursday night - it's pizza night because my oldest has karate class and we get home late. Now I make the dough in the morning and throw the pies together when we get home. My 6 year old gets to top his own, which he loves doing. No icky green stuff like I'm always putting on his plate. 🙂
I got to see Batali make one of his pizzas at a food show in Atlanta, and loved the idea of browning it in a skillet before topping and baking it. I tried his dough recipe but found it much too salty and too tender for me. I like a crunchy, chewy texture. So now I use the classic Ratio version of the dough but use the Batali method to cook it. Saves time too - I get the crusts all stretched out and precooked so all we have to do is top and broil when we get home.
I'm looking forward to finding out what the summer food challenge is this year Ruhlman! My garden is growing and I'm having BLT flashbacks.
Anastasia E.
So ironic you should post this as I just made pizza with my 3 girls last night. I'm originally from NJ, where some of the best pizzas on the planet are made. My move to southern VA left me left than satisfied, that is, until I found the Mellow Mushroom (their crust is fantastic, but only if you ask for it sans butter and parmesan cheese). I have been trying to reproduce something solid for a home comparison and it has been hit or miss. Two questions for anyone who cares to comment: do you have to use a rising dough recipe or is there a decent instant prep and bake? Also, how much whole wheat flour can you use (what ratio) and still obtain a worthy dough without being too dry or tough? Last night I omitted the ww flour per my kids request and we also used Fleichmann's pizza dough yeast. We made two pizzas, one on a stone, the other on a traditional pizza pan - both were great! But how can we get closer to perfection?
Randy
Can we just cut through the treacle-how much will it cost me Mike to have you come to my house in California to make it for me? It says "pizza at home" but it doesn't say who has to make it!
Great photos!
Hugh
I use a slab of 1" thick italian marble salvaged from the dumpster at the local granite place. Heave it onto the gas grill and max out the temp. I can usually get mine up to about 600 degrees, which makes for a great crispy yet chewy crust. Plus it doesn't heat up the house. Okay, enough technical banter. I'd like to share a pizza recipe I have been making lately that walks a little on the wild side, but is delicious none the less, and you can't get it in a restaurant. Neapolitan skin, homemade bacon, (fried and crumbled), (thanks Michael) cream cheese, and homemade kimchi, (strained of its juice.) Sauced with Korean BBQ sauce made of chili garlic, sesame oil, brown sugar, oyster sauce, and kimchi juice. Finely diced preserved lemon on top is also a nice addition. Try it. Your pizza paradigm won't be the same.
JimD
Hugh, do you make your own Kimchi? I have a batch in the fridge that is better than anything you've ever bought and so easy its funny. If you would like the recipe I can post it.
Rodger Haynes
P!lease publish the home-made kimchi recipe
Rodger Haynes
Could you roll out the pizza dough and freeze it as a 10" round? It would thaw out faster and be ready to go in 30 mins or so.
Hugh
You bet I make my own chi. Last week I had kimchi, kraut, kombucha, and sourdough starter all bubbling away in the kitchen. The house was a little funky smelling, but it's well worth it. I'm always interested in how other people do things though, so if you'd like to share, by all means post away.
Jeremiah
Friday night has been pizza night for the last seven years. I started out experimenting with different kinds of crusts, but I eventually settled down with a classic Neopolitan style crust (Peter Reinhart's, if you want to know). Personally, I like a more slack dough, retarded overnight. And yes, pizza dough does freeze very well. Reinhart's recipe makes 4-6 crusts, and you can freeze them for up to six months. Talk about easy! Just pull them out the day before to thaw, and let them warm up an hour or two before you bake them.
I agree with Michael--you don't have to have a pizza stone and bake it at 800 degrees, but I do have to admit, that if you can, it's not a bad way to go. Our favorite is a BBQ chicken pizza with onions, bacon, chicken, and homemade sauce.
Ben
This is amazingly great timing for me. I bought my daughter a (gasp) "quick and easy" frozen pizza from Earth's Best a few weeks ago. It was quite possibly the worst thing I have ever tasted. I have since vowed to make her a stack of homemade pizzas to keep in the freezer, and have been meaning to look up this very post!
Ellendra
Every time I freeze a yeast dough, the yeast dies. Is there a trick to it or is it just my freezer?
I need to learn not to read your blog late at night, I end up going to bed hungry.
Jeremiah
No tricks that I know of. Just spray the balls of dough with a little oil before you store them, and give them plenty of time to thaw. I don't claim to be a microbiologist, but from what I understand, yeast doesn't die at temperatures below freezing, it simply goes dormant. What does your dough weigh and where are you thawing it? If you're thawing it in a cold fridge and it's a large quantity of dough, it could take 48 hours or more for it to thaw and become active.
Tim
Great discussion. I too am using a pizza stone or pan for most of my pizzas, but the inverted skillet suggestion sounds like a winner. I've made pizza every Thursday night for years. Lately, I've been brushing the raw crust with either 2-3 tablespoons of garlic-thyme oil or basil pesto before adding the other toppings with great results. The flavor the other toppings seems to have been punched up by the subtle hint of garlic.
Sean
After much trial and error, I find that less is more when it comes to toppings. Too much, and the crust gets weighted down and soggy
Carl
Two questions:
1) My local supermarket sells a dried yeast labeled specifically for pizza. Worth getting?
2) I'm lazy. Is there any reason not to use the "dough" setting on my bread machine to have it do all the hard work? If so, where do I pick up in the instructions? Does it need more proofing, or is it ready to roll?
Chris K
1) No. Any dry active yeast will be OK.
2) I'm lazy too, which is why I love this recipe:
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/search?q=no+knead+pizza+dough
The hardest part is planning ahead for the rise/proof time. But that's not very difficult.
angel
I always have dough balls in the freezer. Make as usual, freeze, take it out the morning you plan to use. So easy.
I know you lose some heat, but we make the pizza on the stone instead of trying to assemble then transfer. Stretch and form the dough on one of those flexi cutting boards then invert onto stone, add toppings. Works great! (stone is pre-heated before on highest oven setting for at least 30 minutes) If it's an especially heavy pizza we pop the dough back in the oven to get a head start before topping.
JudyB
I've been making pizza since I was a kid (coming up on 50 years now). Learned volumes from your article and all the comments! Got plenty of ideas as well. Think I'll have to start emptying the freezer.
Another Foodie
Thanks for the detailed note on active dry v. instant dry. I was just looking for some information on it 🙂
carri
A little further clarification on the different uses of active dry versus Saf. If you are yeasting something long term, such as a preferment (starter) or a refridgerated pastry dough, active dry is prefered because it takes longer to grow and the long rise of these doughs require that. As for Saf, or instant yeast, it is perfect for pizza or bread that you want to rise right away. BTW, that pizza looks so good, I am going to make one right NOW!
luis
Pizza is all about the bread you bake. At one time I was making great bread using the Kitchen Aid and the dough hook.
I'd get this nice flaky airy crunchy pizza pies with a healthy rise and air bubbles....Since then is been very disapointing results... You make it sound easy and I am wanting to try again....But the dough seems tight and just never relaxed or elastic enough...after it rises.????????
I am copying down your recipe. Thank you.
tasteofbeirut
Love that pizza and the photo; I have gotten used to grill pizza and man'ooshe (lebanese flatbreads) in the BBQ grill it heats up fast to 600F and it is so easy to slide them in and out.
QuarryLaneFarms
Agreed. Newly found for me in the last 6 months, eggs on pizza is the best thing around.
As your good friend Bourdain call himself an "Eggslut" - I believe I am one too.
Muncha muncha
Carol
Thanks so much for the inspiration; though I feel I was slumming a bit. I had the last pound of lean master recipe dough from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes in the fridge, basil and oregano from my EarthBox herb garden, a jar of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, a bag of Kraft "Italian cheese blend" (hangs head in shame), a bag of Hormel pepperoni and a brick of Parmigiano-Reggiano. I rolled out the dough on a floured sheet of parchment on my peel, misted it with EVOO, scattered minced sun-dried tomato and oregano on it, sprinkled the "Italian cheese" over that, covered that with slices of pepperoni, then dusted with microplaned Parmigiano and basil chiffonade and baked it in my convection oven on a stone. Talk about instant gratification!
luis
It's all about the bread.....I can not and I won't eat it all... but I will start making pizza bread again. I love it when it comes out rigth!. warm... chewy, crusty, bubbly bread....This is the holy grail of pizza..... I am in once again Rhulman... you da! bos! and thank you for letting us know that egg takes five mins.. to happen. You know the last time we did this I was thrown for a loop there...But this is doable. thanks again...
Snow
I have to give a nod to parchment paper as well. Easy to just slide the whole thing on a baking stone.
I usually whip up the dough the night before, and after rising stick it in the fridge overnight.
Pizza's gotta have sausage in my house!
luis
I don't think pizza dough can be made in a Cuisinart. It can be made by hand if you have the energy to dick with it for ten looooong mins....
even then I am not sure?.
But my old method using the Kitchen Aid on lowest setting, dough hook, shortenning, salt and yeast proofed in warm water with a dash of sugar and a sprinkle of baking soda used to work.
Man, I could divide it and freeze it and it was great. I need to get back to that. My Cuisinart doughs just look as Non -Artisan as it can get.
Like Mass produced bread things....
I want to get back to chewy, crusty, airy, bubbly great tasting bread.
It is scary having been there and now not finding my way back.... very dis-empowering... humbling experience.
Norma
I am making pizza tonight to enjoy with the Lost finale...I started making homemade pizza on a regular basis about a year ago and we're official addicts! So easy - and while I'd probably benefit from following the ratio rule, I usually get a reasonable crust from 3 cups flour (white + 1/2 cup bran), dollops of honey and olive oil and salt, tsp yeast plus enough water to make it all come together.
The honey is a big must for me in my crust - I love the sweetness it adds.
Of course the homemade tomato sauce is a given at our house - and I've even started playing around with making whole milk ricotta and mozzarella. Yum!
I could go on for quite a while about all the nuances and simplicities of making pizza at home...I think I'll head to the kitchen to begin prepping for tonight's dinner instead!
Toast
Dude. DUDE! Nowhere in this post do you mention the 5:3 ratio is by weight, not volume. I just found that out now by flipping to the bread dough chapter in your book. Do you *know* what you get when you do it 5:3 by volume? PASTE! Or, "pizza batter" if you prefer.
C'mon. You gotta put important little caveats like that in BOLD UPPERCASE so amateur hacks like me don't go astray.
Rob
Not to be obtuse, but the best pizza crust I have ever made comes from one of Peter Reinhart's books, but now I am intrigued and will definitely give yours a go.
shahzad yaqoob
Perfect homemade pizza was never that easy to make; read the article below:
http://hubpages.com/hub/-The-Perfect-Homemade-Pizza