Pizza!
Yesterday afternoon I actually got myself together enough to think ahead a little (which reminds me that I haven't given any thought to tonight's dinner) and made dough in time for the girls to have homemade pizza at their usual early dinner hour (and for us to have our own later).
The kids typically like a margherita-style pizza--ok,ok, cheese pizza. So I made one for them.
For us old people, I experimented a little and was happy with the results. Our veggie box last week included broccoli rabe. Porky, green, and spicy sounded good, so I got out the homemade guanciale (pancetta or bacon would work too), some garlic, and red pepper flake and had at it.
Even though I like making pizza I'm not fanatical about getting the PERFECT crust. I've tried a couple of recipes that I like all right, a couple I don't like and one that I like enough to use regularly. I don't have a pizza stone and I'm not worried about getting the temperature in the oven super-crazy-hot (like the guy Tim told me about who cooks his pizza on the oven's self-cleaning setting and the first time he tried that he exploded the oven's window glass--cover the window with foil if you're nuts enough to try that). I use a cheap-o pizza pan with holes in the bottom and a 500F oven with the rack set on the very lowest rung.
Pizza Dough
--adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour (you will probably need up to 1/4 cup more at the kneading stage, plus more for dusting)
1/4 cup warm water
1 TBS all purpose flour
1 pkg active dry yeast
1-1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup warm water
2 generous pinches of kosher salt
Put 1-1/2 cups flour in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl or glass measuring cup put the yeast, 1 TBS flour, and 1/4 warm water. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes. By the end of 5 minutes it should look creamy on the top. If not, discard and start over.
Add the yeast mixture, olive oil, 1/2 cup warm water, and salt to the flour. Stir until combined. It will probably be a little sticky, that's ok. Lightly flour your work surface and knead the dough on the floured surface for 8 minutes--adding flour as needed--until the dough is smooth.
Cover the dough and put it in a warm-ish place to let it rise for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until it has doubled in bulk.
Stretch the dough out onto a 12-14" pizza pan, brush lightly with olive oil and top as desired.
Easy Tomato Sauce
1 TBS olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 -14 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
salt to taste
Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and the oregano and heat, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Drain the juice from the tomatoes into the pan and turn the tomatoes onto a chopping board and cut mince. Add tomatoes to the pan along with the salt and cook down for about 20-30 minutes or until the sauce has thickened somewhat and is not watery.
Spread the sauce over the pizza dough (this type of sauce will have a full tomato flavor but will not provide a thick "blanket" of sauce, just spread it as evenly as possible).
For Margherita Pizza:
Top with mozzarella cheese and bake at 500F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and top with freshly grated parmesan and freshly torn basil leaves.
For Spicy Broccoli Rabe Pizza:
Top the tomato sauce with mozarella cheese.
Saute 2 TBS chopped guanciale or bacon over medium heat until some of the fat has rendered but the pork is not crisp. Add 1-2 cloves, peeled and minced garlic along with red pepper flakes to your taste. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Turn the heat down slightly (so the garlic and bacon don't burn) and add the rabe. Cook until it is just wilted. Distribute the mixture over the pizza and cook at 500F for 10-12 minutes. Top with freshly grated parmesan and additional red pepper flake if desired.
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