Saturday, July 7, 2012

Cookish: What's for dinner?

My boyfriend and I have taken to making our own pizza lately. Here's what we do:

I make my favorite tomato sauce, using whole tomatoes in a can, and add some  pizza seasoning (mostly oregano and basil) and crushed red pepper, and cook it down a little more than I would for pasta sauce and then use an immersion blender to get it smooth.

To make the dough (adapted from rachelraymag.com):
1 tsp honey
1 cup warm water
1 packet yeast
3 cups bread flour (plus more for kneading)
1 3/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs oil (plus extra for the bowl)

Stir the honey into the water to dissolve, then stir in yeast and let it sit for 5 mins, until foamy. In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt to mix well, then add the oil and yeast mixture and blend until a ball of dough forms. Next, knead the dough on a floured surface for about 5 minuted (good workout!). Put the dough in a large bowl and toss with a small amount of oil til coated. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 1-1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size. punch down the dough, turn out onto a floured surface and cut into quarters. Roll into balls and place in the fridge for 10-48 hours  (I have done less time on occasion), or place in the freezer for longer storage (defrost in fridge overnight). Let come to room temp for 1 hour before stretching into pizzas.

These size dough balls make smallish pizzas,depending upon how thick you like your crust. My bf happily eats a whole one by himself; I usually have a piece or two leftover.

Preheat oven with pizza stone to 500 degrees. Top your pizza as desired (he likes tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni; I like olive oil and garlic, sauteed spinach and mushrooms, and cheese). Bake for 8-10 minutes each.

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