Pizza Perfection

Well, I've posted about my homemade pizza here before, but I thought this beauty deserved a nod. I took a before and after baking pic, because I feared the shape might not be quite as lovely after transferring it to the pizza stone. That was a good call. Here it is:

Tonight, I made the crucial final tweak to my recipe. Instead of making one pizza (with a really thick, kind of heavy crust), I tried making two medium-sized pizzas. PERFECT! (Well, actually, one turned out a little thin, but I'll just make it a little smaller next time to fix that :-). So, I'm realizing that I've now made enough adjustments to the original technique/recipe from Our Best Bites that I should describe my own approach (should anyone want to give it a try).

So, here goes. I make this sauce, leaving out the onion powder and doubling the recipe. It freezes well, so I almost always have some on hand. It also seems to have a nice flavor if I have time to let it simmer for a few minutes. I used about 3/4 cup tonight to make the two medium pizzas. I've learned that too much sauce can make the crust and cheese a bit wet, so if I have more than I need, I just heat it up to dip my crust in later.

I started with this technique and this dough (through the first rise). Here's how I do it. Use quick rise/bread machine yeast, and test the temp of the water. I found that I was actually using water that was too cool, so my yeast never got bubbly enough. I add about 1/2-1 cup of whole wheat flour, to give myself the illusion of "healthier" pizza dough. I also think that amount gives a nice flavor without being too earthy. While I'm getting the dough started, I preheat the oven and a big glass bowl to 200. Once it heats up, I turn the oven off. (Since we keep our apartment cool, having a warmer place for the dough to rise seems to make a big difference). I've also learned that the dough turns out to have a lighter texture if I'm careful to not put too much flour in. Stop when it's just barely sticking to your finger, and use a little flour on your hands to get it out of the mixer without too much trouble.

When the dough is ready, I put a little olive oil in the bottom of the glass bowl and spin the dough around to coat it so it stays supple during/after the rise. The dough needs to rise for 45 minutes. After it's been rising for 30, I take it out of the oven and put the pizza stone in, cranking the temp up to 500.

When the dough is done rising, it needs to be punched down, divided in two, and rolled out. Of course, it helps to have flour handy to coat the work surface, rolling pin, and your hands. Once the dough is rolled out, I carefully take the pizza stone out and transfer the dough to it. Move fast, or it'll stick in place. (It helps to use the rolling pin to move the dough over).

Then, I brush the outer 1-2 inches of crust with a mix of olive oil, garlic powder, and "pizza seasoning" (just a blend of herbs I have in the cupboard). Next, it's ready for sauce, cheese, and toppings. Our favorites are pepperoni and Italian sausage. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 425.

Then, transfer the baked pizza to a large cutting board (I use one of those flat, flexible ones). If it's fully cooked, it won't stick to the stone. This time, I had fully prepared the second pizza on two sheets of parchment paper, so I got Mark to help me move it onto the pizza stone and slide the parchment paper out. That's where we had trouble. It seems I'd need to flour the parchment paper a little too, or wait to assemble the second pizza until I got the crust on the stone...I guess I'm still tweaking that part.

So, there you have it. I'm guessing we'll be eating it again next Sunday! (Oh, last week we used this recipe to make calzones instead--they were pretty great, too ;-).