Pizza

On Tuesday, I made pizza. We haven't been able to find any dough at the local supermarket (no TJ's or good bakeries in town here), so I've been making my own pizza dough. I enjoy making yeast doughs, and have been keeping a journal to help me improve my dough. I think I've come pretty close to mastering the pizza dough (unfortunately, the bread dough, while similar, has not yielded similarly good results yet).

I like the dough recipe from Caprial and John's Kitchen. I usually use only about 1/2 T of yeast, because I find the whole 1 T gives too fast a rise. I also use a lot of black pepper, with a coarse hnad grind in my mortar and pestle - it really gives the crust a nice taste.

I proof the yeast in a separate bowl, then use a food processor to do the initial mix of all the ingredients. I have found the the two most indispensable ingredients are the EVOO and the salt. Obviously the salt is essential for taste. I find the EVOO really gives the dough a soft, smooth texture. I usually finish the dough with about 5 minutes of hand kneading, until done.

I do the first rise in the oven. It usually takes about an hour (it was taking about 20 minutes with the full 1 T of yeast, which made for not very good dough). I then usually punch it down, cut into quarters, wrap in EVOO-covered plastic wrap, then refrigerate. The fridge retards the second rise until I'm ready for it. (I actually don't think the second rise is very important for pizza dough, but that's just me).

I take the dough out 15-20 minutes before I want to cook it, and gently flatten it. I don't push too hard at this time, because I don't want to tear the dough. After the dough has warmed some, I finish shaping it into about 10-12 inch rounds.

For our toppings we used 'crushed' canned tomatoes (uncooked), bulk Italian sausage (pre-cooked), sliced black olives, and shredded cheese (we had some pizza blend, which is mozzarella, cheddar, and some parmigiana).

We like to use our cast-iron skillet to cook our pizza, since we don't have a stone - it usually gives a nice crunchy crust. We use corn meal on the pan to keep the dough from sticking, which I think also helps with the crust development. It usually takes about 10-15 minutes in a 400+ degree oven for a good crust to develop and the cheese to become nice and bubbly. Optimally, we would have a 500+ degree oven, but our cheap-o over doesn't like such high temperatures.

We ended up with about 4 10-inch pizzas. We had one plain cheese, one cheese with oregano, one cheese and sausage, and one cheese, sausage, and olives. This is usually good for 2 meals for us.

It's really east to make your own pizza at home, especially if your supermarket or local bakery sells dough. It makes me sad that such craptastic places like Dominoes and Pizza Hut stay in business. I have to thank my mom for always making pizza at home and never subjecting us to those craptastic chains (the first time I ate Pizza Hut, I didn't eat the pizza).

Notes and Next Time

• I think freezing the dough at the 'refrigeration' point would be a good option. This way you could pull the dough whenever you want; unfortunately at this point I can't make dough without eating it right away. Some day, I will make 2 or 3 batches, and freeze it.
• I noticed that I used less flour than in previous attempts. The weather has become really dry here, and I think that affected the ratio.
• I really wish I had a stand mixer with a dough hook sometimes. The food processor is fine, but sometimes the dough is hard to get out. But I think I will never give up the final hand knead - it's really satisfying.

Ingredients/Recipe

• Caprial's Pizza Dough Recipe, with modifications:
  
• about 1/2 T yeast, to slow the rise
• greater than 1 t black pepper, for added crust flavor (I hand grind the pepper ina mortar and pestle, which makes it coarser and adds more flavor, I think)
• proof the yeast in a separate bowl
• hand knead for the last 5 minutes or so, until 'done'