Pizza is a lot like sex. When it’s good, it’s really good. When it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.
Anonymous
Margherita – tomato puree, mozzarella & basil
Basic Pizza Dough
Original recipe taken from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart, picked by lovely Rosa of Rosa’s Yummy Yums, our host for this month.
Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).
607 g flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
60g olive oil
420g water, ice cold (40°F/4.5°C)
1 Tbsp sugar
semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting
DAY ONE
Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water. The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55°F/10°-13°C.
Quattro Stagioni – egg, tuna, ham, mushrooms,
mozzarella, olives, all over tomato puree,
sprinkled with oregano
Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas). Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.
DAY TWO
On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.
At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500°F/260°C). If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss. Make only one pizza at a time! During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.
When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.
Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice. Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes. After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.
34 Comments
I love that quote ;-P! Your pizzas look absolutely fantastic and ever so perfect! Very well done!Cheers,Rosa
What a hilarious quote! Have to say, I definitely agree! ;P Great pizzas, Marija!
doh! I loooove egg on my pizza and totally didn’t use it as a topping! must remember for next time!
Yummy looking pizzas!!I like the quote too
Great quote! The egg on the Quattro Stagioni looks perfect and they all look delicious.
Love the quote Marija & love the feast you've laid out. The choice of toppings is making me sing!! YUM!!
Your pizzas look amazing. They are all so thin and each topping sounds delicious.
Great quote, and I love your toppings. Did you just break a raw egg onto the pizza before cooking the pizza? I’ve had egg on my pizza in Paris, but I’ve never seen such a thing in America.
yummy pizza !!!!!!! great !!!!!!!
the note gives me a chuckle I love the first pizza with an egg on!
Thank you all for the comments! :)))@Molly – Yes. You just break a raw egg on top of pizza, moment before you put it in the oven.
Wow what a lot of yummy looking pizzas you made. I wouldn’t know which one to choose
Marija, you did an amazing job. So many different kinds of pizza! All look delicious! I haven’t posted mine yet because I haven’t baked it yet:) Luckily, I have until 12 am tonight to bake and post it:)
Beautiful pictures! And that quote is so true… ;)
Wonderful quote – it fits so well and is just too true! I love all the topping combos, but I’m a sucker for mushrooms, so that’s my favorite
The quote is one of the Baldwin brothers (Stephen, I think) in Threesome… I am so embarassed I know that!Lovely pizzas! All your toppings look lovely, and beautiful thin bases.
Oh, that Egg pizza is heavenly. goood job.
oh, I love that Egg Pizza. Brilliant.
Great job on the challenge! Your pizza’s look incredible!
I love the pizza recipe!
wow your pizzas are real HOT, I was just drooling looking at those toppings, so fantastic, well accomplished!
Heehehe…that quote is hilarious! Great work on the pizzas. They look fantastic!
What a selection, Marija! I love them all!
I love egg baked on pizza. I had this in Paris and have never thought to do it at home. Thank you for reminding me it looks amazing!
Haha.. Nice quote. I’m wondering where I heard it before… Was it a movie or something?
Stunning looking pizzas! I don’t know which one I would choose, the elegant simplicity of the Margharita or the delicious variety of the Quattro Stagioni
Kad ne bi bilo pizze, ja bih bila najnesretnije čeljade na svijetu :PIako ju ne jedem često, ali sad, gledajući ove fotke, mislim da če ju biti u izobilju za vikend
Your pizzas look so professional!
These are some mighty fine and tasty pizzas!
Great job! All of your pizzas look so yummi.:))))What did you think of the dough?I wasn’t happy with mine at all!:(
@monsoon – I liked the dough! Probably will make it again
I so agree with the sex part! But hey all your look REALLY good!
Your pizzas are such eye candies! I especially heart the one with the egg =)
yay! I am happy I was not the only one to put an egg on my pizza! It was delicious wasn’t it? I loved the dough too, even though I managed to burn mine a little!
Comments are closed.