Pizza

Making pizza is one of my favorite things to do with my family. My husband and I started making pizzas together nearly 15 years ago. At the time we lived in Minneapolis and making pizza was a double bonus – not only did we get something great to eat in the end, but we also warmed up the entire house!

Today we make pizza primarily on our grill. We have a pizza stone that we place right on top of the grate and can get our grill up to well over 500 degrees (we have a Big Green Egg – which is like having a brick oven as a grill). But, if you don’t feel comfortable putting the pizza on a grill, try getting a pizza stone. We keep ours in the oven all of the time – it works great for warming up breads and pastries, too. Whatever you do, I just urge you to try making pizza at least once totally from scratch: dough and sauce.

One of the reasons we enjoy making our own pizzas, other than the fact that it costs less and tastes 100-times better, is that it’s something to do when you’re throwing a casual dinner party. Hand your guests a beer or glass of wine, a knife and cutting board and tell them to cut up some garlic/onions/tomatoes/etc. and conversation just starts to flow. I am a firm believer in participatory dinner parties. I think it helps relax people and give them a place to focus their energy if they’re feeling uneasy. It’s also great to see a bunch of people come together and think of new combinations for pizzas.

If it’s just us, we’ll sip a beer and just have fun watching the girls participate in making their own amazing creations.

The key to keeping it simple is to start your dough just before you start cutting up your toppings. I make a batch in my food processor. It takes about 5 minutes total to mix, and the rest of the time it’s just rising.

The sauce is my favorite because it serves as a great non-intrusive base to a simple pizza. The flavors of the toppings really shine and are not overrun by the taste of a jarred “pizza sauce” which is frequently filled with a bunch of nasty additives and way too many “Italian Seasonings.” Go for simple and your taste buds will be rewarded!

A Simple Pizza Dough Recipe:
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour or white whole wheat
2 teaspoons coarse seas salt
1 ¼ cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
In a food processor fit with a metal blade, add yeast, flour, and teaspoons salt. Process to mix. With processor still running, add water and oil slowly. Process for only about 30 seconds at a time, taking a moment to scrape down the sides if necessary. The dough should quickly come together into a ball. If it’s too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water to the mix.
Take dough out of processor and on a clean, well-floured area give it a few kneads until the dough is smooth and supple. In a large bowl add a bit of olive oil and spread it around. Add the dough and turn it once or twice to cover it with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or simply put a plate on top. Let sit while you finish prepping your sauce and veggies. Dough can sit up to two hours or if you want to make it well before your pizza-party starts you can put the dough in the fridge until about 2 hours before you’re ready to make the pizzas.
Dough makes 1 very large or 2-3 small pizzas.
Roll out dough into whatever thickness you’d like, put in oven or on grill (make sure grill is well oiled) with a sheen of olive oil over the top. Cook at 475 degrees for about 5 minutes. Remove and put whatever toppings you’d like on top. Cook again for another 5-7 minutes until crust is perfectly browned and toppings and cheese are well cooked.

And An Even Simpler Sauce:
1, 28oz can of whole tomatoes
Puree in your blender or food processor.
Pour pureed tomatoes into a small pan until slightly reduced, about 15 minutes.

Our favorite toppings:
Buffalo Mozzarella
Goat Cheese
Green Olives
Fresh basil
Fresh tomatoes