I've been making homemade pizza for about 2 years now and it's been an odyssey to make the perfect pizza. My quest has been to have the pizza of the perfect thickness (perfect for me being not too thin but not too thick) and the right level of crispness, evenly cooked. I've taken my tips from lots of different sources. I started out cooking my pizzas with a dough recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
They taught me if I didn't have a stone to cook the pizza on an inverted cookie sheet or pizza pan that has been preheated in a 500 degree oven would help with crispness. This was definitely an improvement over just cooking the pizza in a cold pan and placing it in a pre-heated oven. I ended up going out and buying a pizza stone at Williams-Sonoma. This brought me a bit closer to my holy grail. When the stone is pre-heated at 500 degrees the pizza ends up being crisper than with the inverted cookie sheet trick. I guess in some ways after the pizza stone purchase I hit a wall. The consistency of my pizza is kind of unpredictable. Sometimes I'm happy with them, sometimes not. I still make my own dough but more often than not I use purchased dough from Trader Joe's. I do like to make my own dough when I have time and it's not that difficult. It also freezes well.
This past week I made pizza twice. The first time I used store-bought dough and
made a pizza with speck ham. Speck has also been a quest for me. I've had speck in Italy and never been able to find it in the US. I've checked for it in more upscale butcher shops and delis and never had any luck. A couple of weeks ago I was in Costco and found speck in their deli case. The speck is very similar to prosciutto but has a stronger smoky flavor. It tastes great over pizza. I didn't really do anything special with this pizza, I used bagged mozzarella and jarred sauce and it was great. The pizza itself was crisp but not as evenly crisp as I had hoped for. I made some adjustments to the temperature in my oven after I made this pizza and had some better luck with the pizza I made tonight.
They taught me if I didn't have a stone to cook the pizza on an inverted cookie sheet or pizza pan that has been preheated in a 500 degree oven would help with crispness. This was definitely an improvement over just cooking the pizza in a cold pan and placing it in a pre-heated oven. I ended up going out and buying a pizza stone at Williams-Sonoma. This brought me a bit closer to my holy grail. When the stone is pre-heated at 500 degrees the pizza ends up being crisper than with the inverted cookie sheet trick. I guess in some ways after the pizza stone purchase I hit a wall. The consistency of my pizza is kind of unpredictable. Sometimes I'm happy with them, sometimes not. I still make my own dough but more often than not I use purchased dough from Trader Joe's. I do like to make my own dough when I have time and it's not that difficult. It also freezes well.This past week I made pizza twice. The first time I used store-bought dough and
made a pizza with speck ham. Speck has also been a quest for me. I've had speck in Italy and never been able to find it in the US. I've checked for it in more upscale butcher shops and delis and never had any luck. A couple of weeks ago I was in Costco and found speck in their deli case. The speck is very similar to prosciutto but has a stronger smoky flavor. It tastes great over pizza. I didn't really do anything special with this pizza, I used bagged mozzarella and jarred sauce and it was great. The pizza itself was crisp but not as evenly crisp as I had hoped for. I made some adjustments to the temperature in my oven after I made this pizza and had some better luck with the pizza I made tonight.Tonight's pizza recipe came from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook.
Yes, alas, I am watching my weight. This is a great cookbook for lighter versions of favorite recipes though and they have a good chapter on pizzas. And thanks to this cookbook I think I'm one step closer to my perfect pizza. They suggested replacing 1 1/2 cups of flour in the standard dough recipe below with semolina for a crispier pizza. I tried it and it came out great. They suggest rolling the dough out to a 12-inch round, which I did, but the pizza was a little too thick for my taste. The next time I make it I think I would roll it out into a larger pie or use less dough. They also called for 2 cups of tomato sauce, but I used only about 1 cup. I tend to not like pizza that is too saucy. The recipe is light on the cheese (only 3/4 cup of mozzarella) but is jazzed up a bit with some Parmigiano-Reggiano. (Cristian and Hannah brought us a beautiful 2lb block of it last week so we are set for a while! Thanks Cristian and Hannah!).
Basic Pizza Dough
(from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook) Yes, alas, I am watching my weight. This is a great cookbook for lighter versions of favorite recipes though and they have a good chapter on pizzas. And thanks to this cookbook I think I'm one step closer to my perfect pizza. They suggested replacing 1 1/2 cups of flour in the standard dough recipe below with semolina for a crispier pizza. I tried it and it came out great. They suggest rolling the dough out to a 12-inch round, which I did, but the pizza was a little too thick for my taste. The next time I make it I think I would roll it out into a larger pie or use less dough. They also called for 2 cups of tomato sauce, but I used only about 1 cup. I tend to not like pizza that is too saucy. The recipe is light on the cheese (only 3/4 cup of mozzarella) but is jazzed up a bit with some Parmigiano-Reggiano. (Cristian and Hannah brought us a beautiful 2lb block of it last week so we are set for a while! Thanks Cristian and Hannah!).
Basic Pizza DoughMakes 2-12 inch pizza crusts
- 1 1/2 cups warm (105-115 degree) water
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 package of active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups of semolina flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1. In a 2-cup measuring jug, combine the water and sugar. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the oil.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour and salt. With the machine running, scrape the yeast mixture through the feed tube; pulse until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. If necessary turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth and elastic.
3. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray; put the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
4. Punch down the dough, then cut in half. Refrigerate or freeze in floured zip-close freezer bag at this point or use as directed in the recipe.
I topped this pizza with 1 cup of marinara sauce (Trader Joe's from a can) and 3/4 cup of part-skim mozzarella and 2 tablespoons of Parmegiano-Reggiano. This went into a 500 degree oven on a pre-heated pizza stone (for 1 hour -- am I crazy?). For those of you counting points cut the pizza into six slices and 1 slice is 3 points. The hardest part is not eating the whole pizza -- but just think you'll have leftovers!
2. In a food processor, combine the flour and salt. With the machine running, scrape the yeast mixture through the feed tube; pulse until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. If necessary turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth and elastic.
3. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray; put the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
4. Punch down the dough, then cut in half. Refrigerate or freeze in floured zip-close freezer bag at this point or use as directed in the recipe.
I topped this pizza with 1 cup of marinara sauce (Trader Joe's from a can) and 3/4 cup of part-skim mozzarella and 2 tablespoons of Parmegiano-Reggiano. This went into a 500 degree oven on a pre-heated pizza stone (for 1 hour -- am I crazy?). For those of you counting points cut the pizza into six slices and 1 slice is 3 points. The hardest part is not eating the whole pizza -- but just think you'll have leftovers!
2 comments:
I must say, the weight watchers pizza sounds delicious!
It really is delicious and very easy to make. The trick is only eating 2 pieces (or one if you are low on points). But, we have some for lunch today so that's good!
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