Another Perfect Pizza

With winter and colder weather, I love making pizza and I do it all from scratch. It’s so simple and so much better to make your own dough and pizza sauce and the variety of toppings you can use is endless. The recipe for pizza dough that I use was originally from the California Culinary Academy book on Seasonal Vegetarian Cooking and I have made a couple of modifications which in my mind make it better, like adding some ground cornmeal to the flour to give the dough additional texture and bite. Below is my version which I have been making for years and it’s perfect every time. You don’t need to be a baker or have a pizza oven or a pizza stone in your oven, and you don’t even have to have a circular pan! You can use a square or rectangular pan. In Rome, the pizzas are made in a rectangular shape and cut into squares. I use a 15 inch non stick circular pan by Caphalon and the recipe below makes a dough that fits nicely in my 15 inch pan.

Dough:

3 1/2 T olive oil

1/4 cup cornmeal (medium grind)

1/2 T active dry yeast

3/4 t. sugar

3/4 cup warm water

1 t. sea salt

1 3/4 cup organic unbleached all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out your dough

In large mixing bowl, stir in yeast, sugar and a few T of warm water (taking it out of the 3/4 cup of water). The reason for the sugar is to proof your yeast. When you see bubbles forming then you know the yeast is active, which it has to be in order to rise. If the yeast isn’t bubbling, the dough will not rise and you should try another time with fresher yeast. To the yeast mixture, add the cornmeal, flour and 1 T of the olive oil. Knead on a flour dusted work surface (I like to use a pastry mat) for 5-10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl and with your hands, spread the remaining 2 T of olive oil all over the dough ball. Cover with a dishcloth and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. I like to turn on the oven to 250 for 1 minute or so, just to warm the oven up, then turn it off (very important or you will be cooking your dough) and place the covered dough in the oven to rise. In this way, the dough is out of any drafts and has an opportunity to rise nicely. Remember to turn the oven off before putting the dough in. After an hour, remove the dough and it should have doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Punch the dough down and let it rest for 10 minutes. Take out of the bowl and place on a floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 15 inch circle, or a rectangle or square to fit whatever pan you are using.

Pizza Sauce:

1 6 oz can of organic tomato paste Note: I use tomato paste instead of tomato sauce because of the thicker consistency which means it will not result in a runny sauce spilling over your pizza.

1 clove garlic, pressed

1 T olive oil

1 t sugar

1 t red pepper flakes

pinch of dried oregano

1 T fennel seeds, slightly crushed in a mortar and pestle

Sea salt to taste

A few T of water - to thin the tomato paste to desired consistency

Heat all of the ingredients in a saucepan til bubbly then turn down to low and allow to simmer til ready to use.

Pizza Assembly: After rolling out the dough and placing it on the pan you will be using to cook it, spread sauce evenly on the pizza, being careful not to get too close to the edges so it doesn’t spill over. Top with 1/2 lb of shredded mozzarella and your favorite toppings. A couple of my favorite combinations are: Applegate uncured turkey pepperoni with chopped green chile, onion and garlic; and veggie pizza with slices of onion, garlic, zucchini, red pepper and black olives (Greek or Moroccan)

Bake at 450 degrees on a lower shelf in the oven for 13 minutes. I use the second to the bottom shelf in my oven as the very lowest I find will burn the bottom of the crust. I hope you have fun and enjoy your fabulous creation!