Monday, October 12, 2009

"dough day"--adventures with italian dough

It was a rainy Columbus day, so of course the only thing left to do is cook, eat, and drink a lil wine :) We thought we would give focaccia a whirl, and continue to work on our margarita pizza recipe.

Our conclusion is that though we love our recipes as listed below, they will not be perfect until we have our very own brick pizza oven (I aspire to have pizza as delish as Evo for those of you who have enjoyed this tasty treat). I shall now cross my fingers and pray that santa brings us one this year and builds it in our back yard along with all the other basic outdoor kitchen amenities (we could pay him back in pizza and brick oven cookies of course!!) :D


Margarita Pizza

Pizza Dough (recipe follows)
Basic Marinara (recipe follows)
12 oz Fresh Mozzarella
1/2 C Chopped Fresh Basil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for drizzling)
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 and place your pizza stone on the very bottom rack. (takes about 30 min to get to temperature). We like to divide the dough in half and make two pizzas. They are easier to work with and you can customize each. Divide the dough and roll one half out on a floured surface. (Go ahead try tossing it in the air, who cares if you F it up, just roll with it). This is a thin crust so it should be down to an 1/8 of an inch and be somewhat round. Lay the dough on a floured or cornmeal-ed pizza peal (big wooden paddle). Add about a cup of sauce (give or take, depends how saucy you like it). Add half the chopped basil and half the mozzarella. Finish with salt and peeper and drizzled with olive oil. Before going in to the oven give the peal a few shakes to make sure the pizza slides freely. Slide the pizza on the stone and bake for 15-20mins. Use the pizza peal to remove the pizza and let rest for a few minutes before cutting.

Good Sh*t right?

Pizza Dough:
1 Tbls Dry Active yeast
3/4 C Warm Water
2 3/4 C Flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tbls Oil

Mix the yeast and the warm water in the bottom of a mixing bowl (we use a stand mixer). Let stand for 10 mins until mixture begins to foam. Slowly mix in the flour a small amount at a time (low on the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment). Add salt. When dough forms a ball increase the speed to med and let the machine work the dough for 10 mins. Turn the dough out in to an oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let stand in a warm spot for 1 to 2 hours. (Should double in size).

Marinara:
1/2 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 yellow onion
5 cloves garlic (pressed or very finely diced)
28 oz Crushed Tomatoes (San Marzano if you got it like that)


In a medium sauce pan heat oil over medium-high heat. Finley Chop then onions and add them to the oil. Reduce heat to medium and cook down onions until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until the garlic is fragrant. Add salt and pepper then crushed tomatoes. Simmer on med-low for 20 mins. Taste, add salt and pepper if needed.






No comments:

Post a Comment