Mama Mia Pizza

Tonight's dinner menu consists of homemade pizza! Madison finally received its first snow dump last night so what better way to spend a Saturday night than warm dough with cheese and a movie?  I am preparing a pizza recipe from the Joy of Cooking but substituting pre-made crust for some real Italian-style handmade yeast pizza dough.  You know its a real recipe for authentic dough when it lists flour amounts in grams. I had to google the conversion to cups. Here is what I did:


Italian Pizza Crust
The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook


Mix the following in a large bowl:
1.6 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 g (1 packet) yeast
Mix the following in a separate bowl:
1/3 cup milk
3/8 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil


Add the wet mixture to the dry 
Stir with a wooden spoon. Knead for 5 minutes on floured surface. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise in warm place (about 1 hour or double in size).
Punch down and knead another 5 minutes
Place on a lightly greased baking sheet with sprinkling of polenta. Bake 415 degrees 10 minutes*

Pizza pie perfection step #1: Put in the extra effort!

*The recipe bakes it along with pizza toppings for 15-20 minutes so I reduced the time to get the crust to stiffen (raw enough to bake again with my pizza toppings)! I also brushed the crust with olive oil. Kneading dough for 5 minutes is difficult from what I discovered by this recipe. I guess-timated that I would need to knead for the length of two songs playing from my itunes. The Black Keys was great to knead with a rhythm! The most remarkable experience making this recipe was that the dough behaved so well! I have had many bad experiences making yeast breads. My dough never turns out right. THIS pizza dough, however, was as dream come true! I couldn't stop remarking that it was truly remarkable the whole time...stretchy, tender, and smooth. And it even rose nicely in the oven into the golden crusty dream that I was wishing for. I am flagging this recipe with a post-it note for easy future reference and recommending it to everyone! (Note: I got so enthusiastic about this dough that I tried to toss and spin it it in my hands instead of rolling out with a roller. This was not elegant to watch).


Roasted Garlic and Pepper Pizza
Joy of Cooking


1 garlic bulb
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 large sweet red peppers
1/2 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives
2 tablespoons  red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 (10 oz) prebaked thin Italian bread shell 
3/4 cup sweet onion slices
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese


As the name implies, this recipe requires oven roasting of a bulb of garlic as well as fresh bell peppers. I only had frozen green, yellow, and red peppers so I slapped those on a baking sheet and placed in the oven as it pre-heated for the garlic. I let cook for about 20 minutes and was surprised to see them so burned around the edges! The sugars seemed to seep out of the skins and onto the baking sheet making them very difficult to take off, as well as clean the sheet for the dough. I think I will use fresh next time. Slight variations in the toppings were also used: I also didn't have onions so a few dashes of onion powder was put into the topping mixture and pepperoni slices were added to half the pizza for fun! The garlic created a wonderful aroma in my apartment. The whole bulb seemed like a lot for a small pizza but  I followed the recipe and added it all anyways. Doubtful that there will be any complaining since both Joe and I will have garlic breath.


Almost 8:00 PM and pizza is done!! Its beautiful and colorful and smells dangerously delicious! I'm serving with side salad topped with tahini lemon dressing. Voila!

The colors shout "delicioso!!"

Final critiques: Do not bake raw crust separate from toppings. I solved the extra-crispy problem by serving with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil emulsion. Joe loved it regardless and had thirds. Will try again in the near future using the same crust but creative combinations of toppings.