It’s pizza time, people!!
Pizza
Grilled Pizza
We need to have a talk about pizza. You have to do this at home, you MUST do this at home.
Growing up I lived in an era that didn’t deliver pizza. If we wanted pizza, we either went to a pizza parlor, i.e. Shakey’s or Pizza Hut, or we made it ourselves…and we did…we did it a lot. The tricky part? How to make a FABULOUS and AMAZING pizza at home. A teeny tiny bit of practice with the dough, experimenting with the sauce, toppings, complimentary flavor combinations, and cooking methods…but I guarantee you if you give it a go - you will have an epiphany and wonder how the heck you’ve never done this before…you will find you rarely, rarely order out pizza again. It’s the perfect economical meal, pennies, really - an opportunity to let regional and seasonal flavors shine, a chance to clean out the frig of left over steak & chicken breast, veggies, alfredo and pesto sauce - you name it. Have a bbq chicken pizza, taco pizza, classic marinara w mozzarella and basil, sausage and left over salad veggies, classic cheese…..I could go on and on, sky’s the limit.
Don’t want to make pizza dough? Drop in on your local pizza joint, ask the cook for a ball of dough. They will sell it, trust me. A large ball will cost you a dollar maybe, bring it home, divide it into two and you have 2 medium sized pizzas. Easy peasy.
Oven bake it or my favorite, grille it. If you haven’t had grilled pizza, I implore you to try it. It’s amazing. Roll it thinnish, rub each side with olive oil, toss it like wet laundry on a medium/hot grille, it will puff up right away and let a nice blond crust form, flip it over and toast a few minutes on that side, then lightly coat with sauce and toppings. Move to a cooler side of the grille and bake. YUMMM.
Here is a basic pizza dough I make all the time. I triple the batch and divide into medium sized dough balls, place in freezer bags and toss in the freezer. They freeze beautifully. The next pizza night I pull one out a few hours before I plan to use it, let it thaw and roll it out and bake it up. I do use a pizza screen for cooking in the oven. I found them online. It’s just a personal preference, I’m not fond of the baking stones.
http://www.amazon.com/Winware-16-Inch-Seamless-Aluminum-Screen/dp/B001CI8VHS
Cheers to your next pizza!!
Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
- Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.
- Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil.
- Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor or large bowl. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process or stir until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface.
- KNEAD dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute.
- Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- PUNCH down dough. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
- ROLL out dough and you’re ready to craft your pizza!
