Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Recipe of the Week: Pizza

50 Toes has asked so nicely for the recipe and I thought I'd share it as my first official Recipe of the Week! Thanks to Mandy for sharing her recipe from "that Italian woman in Italy."

Pizza Dough:
Add ingredients in order into a bread machine pan:
  • 1 cup water
  • 15 oz flour
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp yeast
We use the French Dough setting on our bread machine; it runs for 1 hour and 48 minutes. Experiment with what works for your machine or create by hand. This recipe makes enough for 2 - 9x13 pans. You can get 2 - 9x13 pans, plus 1 - 9x9 if you prefer thinner crusts.


Pizza Sauce:
  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • 16 oz tomato sauce
  • 1 T water
  • 1 T sugar
  • oregano, to taste (we use 3/4 T to 1 T)
  • garlic, to taste (we use about 2 or 3 cloves worth)

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan (use a whisk for smooth sauce with nary a lump of tomato paste). Simmer sauce for 3 - 5 minutes; DO NOT BOIL as it will make the sauce very acidic!

This recipe makes enough for 4 generously-sauced 9x13 pizzas.


Toppings:
We generally use pepperoni, pineapple, and black olives. We also like bacon and black olives. Yes, we really like black olives. If you're with us, yay! If not, let it go and be happy that we're eating your share of black olives in the world. We bake our pizzas at about 400* (My Dearest, is it 400* or 425*? 450*?) for about 25 minutes to 1/2 hour. Go forth and create your own pizza masterpiece!

We have also found that the glass 9x13 pan gives the crust a nice crispness, without making it too crispy. For more fabulous pizza recipes, look through this book. It's the one that started us on our journey towards finding our pizza.

Bon Appetit!

8 comments:

60 toes said...

I am so excited, I am going to try it this week. Friday is Pizza night for us, this sounds so yummy. What is your ratio of white flour to wheat? Half and half.

Thank you so much for sharing your recipes, I look forward to even more. You can tell I am pregnant, I am thinking about food ALL the time.

Charlotte

PaperCrank said...

Charlotte - Yes, I think we use half white and half wheat flours.

I'm so glad you're excited about the (pizza) recipe(s). :-) I can't wait to hear about your own pizza-making adventures!

When I was pregnant with my first one, EVERYTHING tasted fabulous and I thought about food ALL THE TIME! Mexican food for a week and a half straight - breakfast, lunch, and dinner was as crazy as I got. :-)

Enjoy your pregnancy!!
hugs!
~julia

Brian said...

Hi, Scappy Mom!

It is 425F.

Love,
Your Dearest

60 toes said...

tomorrow is the big "pizza debut"! WE will report back to you.

-Charlotte

PaperCrank said...

Can't wait to hear how it goes, Charlotte! :-)

60 toes said...

We made it last night, the sauce was DELICIOUS. I think I did something wrong with the crust, it seemed too wet.

We are going to try again soon.

Thanks so much.

Any pointers on a better crust?

If I add more flour do I need to adjust any other ingredient?

Have a great weekend.

Charlotte

PaperCrank said...

Charlotte - So glad to hear the sauce was delish! As far as the crust goes, I have two pointers. First, perhaps adding more flour when you're stretching the dough to make the dough less sticky and wet would help. Second, experiment with other pizza dough recipes or with the proportions of the flour. Our original recipe came with our bread machine, which we then tweaked a bit. I hope this helps the crust on your next pizza adventure!

hugs!
Julia

60 toes said...

thanks for the tips, I am now determined to master the dough. I will not give up. :)