One of my favorite summer dinners is pizza. Yeah, crazy, I know, since it means firing up the old oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. But man, homemade pizza topped with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil? Worth every drop of sweat.
We were getting a little bored with my old recipe (hubby would like a crisper crust, me? I just like a change now and then) so I decided to test out a recipe from this month’s Cook’s Illustrated. The recipe promises a pizza reminiscent of those you’d find in southern Italy — a shatteringly thin crust, good flavor, a modest amount of topping. The dough was simple to make; it does, however, require a food processor. The interesting twist to the dough is that you use a mix of all purpose and cake flours, the reason being that higher protein flours only work if you have an oven that goes up to 800 degrees F. While the dough rises, you make a sauce from canned diced tomatoes, which get three blitzes in the food processor then drained in a colander. I didn’t have diced tomatoes, so I used a can of whole San Marzanos from my stash. I added a clove of minced garlic, a bit of salt and sugar, then a tablespoon of chopped fresh basil to round out the sauce.
The dough was easy to press out. I got the requisite “window pane” thinness with a nice, chewy crust at the edge. The dough is topped with half the tomato sauce and baked for five minutes. Then you take it from the oven and top it with cheese. I had some nice buffalo mozzarella in the fridge, so I used that. Back in the oven for another four minutes, and then ready to eat after a basil chiffonade shower, a spritz of olive oil, and some salt and fresh ground pepper.
The verdict? Oliver really liked the crust, except where it was thin, and the sauce, as well as the basil. (He’s not a cheese eater.) After sitting for a few minutes, the water from the cheese must have leaked into the crust and made it mushy. Scott said it smelled good — he didn’t get any because Oliver and I scarfed it down too fast. Me? I think I’ll be using this recipe again. It made enough for another pizza — breakfast, perhaps?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
One word: YUM
Okay, three words: yum, yum, YUM!
I got really into making homemade pizza for a bit when I was into the dough making and bought a pizza stone. Haven’t done it for awhile. BUT, now that it’s winter here I really want to get back into the bread baking. I may even make some tomorrow in fact – if I can find some good flour nearby – and have a potter around the house and read the newspaper day. It’s cold here and I just spent all my money shopping at a department store mega sale.
Tonight I’m making grilled lamb chops marinated in harrissa with cous cous, hummus and spinach salad. We’ve been really loving spinach lately, both raw baby English and regular – for some reason. Obviously this is great as it’s very healthy. I’ve mostly been making spinach salad or spinach just cooked with a dressing of butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper. But do either of you have any other good spinach recipes/ideas?
Could we make the first challenge item spinach?? Popeye R Us?
My other good foodie news for the day is that a little deli just opened up the block! This is very exciting as otherwise there’s nowhere nearby to get organic eggs and cold cut meats and cheeses. There’s another deli but it’s crap. And the butcher nearby SUCKS. I asked them if they had any pancetta and they said ‘what’s that?’. NOT a good sign. Instead we bus to this Italian neighbourhood once every few weeks and stock the freezer with all their delicious, organic meats. The new deli has everything you could hope for in a local deli! LOADS of great cheeses, pancetta, speck, proscuitto, ham, salami. Also stuffed olives, good dried pasta, coffee, turkish delight and nice quality sauces and preserves, olive oil etc. I was so excited Todd was laughing at me.
Happy pizza eating. Me so hungry now …
Deb, I got a jar of harissa at Christmas and I’ve been using it in almost everything. My favorite is a chicken rub — the harissa, some lemon juice, cumin seeds, cilantro, and teaspoon of turmeric (recipe from The Cook’s Book). Congrats on the new deli. I hate it when I don’t have what I need close by.
A spinach challenge is okay by me. Patti, how about you?
Oh, and a butcher comment — you remember last year when I made my own lard. Several butchers had no idea what leaf lard was. I had to explain to them it was the fat around the pig’s kidneys. I guess because butchers today cut wholesale cuts into retail cuts and rarely see the whole carcass ….
First of all, BEAUTIFUL pizza Di!! That’s what we’re having for dinner tonight. Although I’ll admit…I bought the pizza dough. Ours won’t be as good as yours, I’m sure.
Second, spinach it is! The first official Shake and Bake battle. Should we just round off the dates and say we all have a recipe due at the end of July? Remember to keep notes, even if what you makes ends up sucking. Oooh, this is going to be fun!
Thanks, Patti. Hey, I’ve been known to buy premade dough, and it’s pretty good.
OK, spinach it is. Yay, because it looks like we’ll be getting lots of spinach in our first CSA box this week.