Friday, April 3, 2009

P-I-Z-Z-A

This is a staple at my home. My kids and my husband love homemade pizza. I make this about twice a month. Alex, my four year old loves the entire process of pizza making. I let her help roll out the dough and put the toppings on. The only problem is .... I can't get her to stop eating the peperoni. Tonight I made three different types of pizza. I had leftover pulled pork, so I made pulled pork and smoked Gouda pizza. I made the traditional cheese and peperoni. Lastly, I made garlic and Roma tomato pizza. I made a ton of pizza because we tend to nibble on it all weekend. I hope you enjoy the recipes!THE TRADITIONAL PIZZA

The Dough:

1/2cp. + 2 cps of hot water
package of yeast
pinch + 3 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 cp. yellow corn meal
2 TB olive oil
8 cps. of flour (bread flour)
(I know this sounds like a lot. It is. I usually make three pizzas and still have dough left over. With the leftover dough I make pizza rolls, Stromboli or freeze it.)
1. Add the 1/2 cp water, yeast and pinch of sugar. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
2. Add 2 cps of hot water, sugar, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture and the corn meal. Add the flour one cup at a time. Knead until elastic.
3. Sit a bowl for 2 hrs. Until it doubles in size.
4 Separate into four equal balls. (Here you can either leave in four equal balls or roll it out and form into pizza pans and put in the fridge) Put the dough in the fridge 4 hrs-Overnight. I usually make the dough in the morning. Let it rise the 2 hours and then put it in the fridge until dinner time. I also usually form the dough onto cookie trays with a little olive oil and more corn meal at the bottom of the pan. It also prevents the sticking.

The Sauce:

1 8oz. can of paste
1 8oz. can of water
2 tsp fresh oregano
1 tsp. fresh basil
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1tsp. sugar
1/4 cp. parm cheese.

1. Add all ingredients and cook in a sauce pan until it is all combined. I heat until warm and incorporated.

When the dough is done (The 4+ hrs in the fridge) top with the homemade sauce, 4 cps. fresh mozzarella shredded and fav. toppings. My daughter loves peperoni.. I top the pizza with fresh parm and some shredded oregano.
****My husband and daughter love their peperoni crispy. To make sure it is crispy add the peperoni to a frying pan for a few minutes until lightly browned.

I always bake my pizza @ 415 until it is brown around the edges and the cheese is bubbly
My Madres Pizza

3-4 tsp. olive oil
3 fresh garlic cloves minced
2-3 Roma tomatoes
4 TB fresh basil
1/3 cp. fresh parm cheese.
salt and pepper

1. Add the olive oil to the pizza. Make sure all of the surface has olive oil. Add the garlic. Top with the tomatoes, then basil and last add the parm cheese.
I usually add just a little crushed red pepper.
Bake on 415 until brown. (10-15 minutes)
Smoke Guoda and Pulled Pork Pizza

3-4 tsp. olive oil
3 tsp. bbq rub
Leftover pulled pork, about 3 cps.
8 0z. smoke Gouda
Red onions (1/2 onion)

1. Add the olive oil to the pizza crust. Make sure that the crust is covered. Add the bbq rub. Top with the leftover pulled pork. Shred the Gouda and top the pizza. Add the red onion rings on the top.
2. Bake on 415 for 10-15 minutes.

This pizza was awesome.