Homemade Pizza
Because it is so much better, and simple besides. (I tripled this for the seven pizzas we produced the other night.)
Author: Ellen Stimson
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- ⅔ cup warm water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons yeast
Instructions
- Yeast proof . . . mix with a little of the warm water and a teaspoon of sugar and let rise atop stove. If you turn your oven on you can speed this up a little. Takes 15–30 minutes.
- Mix all ingredients and knead for 7–10 minutes. Let rise until doubled, approximately 2 hours.
- Special toppings
- Mascarpone, layer of fig comfit or heavy fig jam, layer of prosciutto . . . sprinkle fresh black pepper, Parmesan Reggiano, and serve. People will beg you for this recipe.
- Mascarpone, a little garlic powder, and peas. This one is amazing. Really. I swear. Try it.
- Also, fresh tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella atop regular pizza sauce is really good.
- For the regular pizza sauce I add approximately two teaspoons sugar and 1½ tablespoons of cinnamon per jar if using store bought . . . maybe a little garlic too.
- Prebake dough in a 500ºF oven for about 5 minutes. Buy a pizza stone if you can, which makes it cook more evenly. Sprinkle your stone with cornmeal for easy removal of crusts. Repeat after every two or three pizzas.
- When using regular tomato sauce, place it mainly in the middle. It will spread during baking.
- Bake for about 3–5 minutes at 500ºF until bubbly.
