I'm cooking for myself today.
I've been jonesin' for pizza
for a while now,
and finally broke down today and made one.
Pizza is not in Mr. Hawthorne's diet.
If he's going off his diet,
which he occasionally does now,
he's going off for fried oysters,
not for pizza.
But for Rosie today,
it's pizza!
And golly gee,
I've missed pizza pie.
I'm making a baby pizza today.
This would feed two perfectly,
but since Mr. Hawthorne is not partaking,
I can doctor it up later when I have it as
Pizza Moreovers.
Ingredients for pizza dough:
1 package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 cup + bread flour
1 TB oil
salt and pepper
fresh parsley and oregano
I poured the yeast into the warm water.
And gave it a little something to eat.
Sugar.
Leave it alone for the yeast to proof.
While the yeast was proofing,
I started on my sauce.
Sauce ingredients:
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
some onion
some pepper
some fresh parsley and oregano
Chop the onion, pepper, parsley, and oregano.
I sauteed the onion and pepper in a little butter for a minute.
Add in the tomato sauce.
Rinse out the can with water.
Get every bit.
Add in the herbs.
Give the sauce about this much of fennel seeds.
Fennel in.
Bare simmer, stirring occasionally,
for 30-45 minutes,
scraping down sides.
My yeast has proofed.
Add in 1 cup of flour.
Toss in the herbs
and add freshly ground salt and pepper.
Lightly flour a board.
Action shot!
Turn the shaggy dough onto the floured board.
Squish dough out, make a well,
and give it about a tablespoon of olive oil.
And work it,
kneading,
You want a nice, fairly smooth ball o' dough.
Oil a bowl,
roll the dough in the oil,
cover with plastic wrap,
and let rise.
I'm using pepperonis on one half of my pizza.
Here's Rosie's Pepperoni Tip:
Slice the pepperoni, place on paper towels,
and nuke for about 25 seconds.
Depends on the power of your microwave.
Look at the towels.
Nuking gets a lot of the oil out
that otherwise would be pooling on your pizza.
Cornmeal on my work area.
I just punched the dough down.
I'm hungry and in a hurry to eat.
This was less than an hour rise.
Form the pizza dough.
I let the dough alone to rise a bit.
I have oregano and parsley on the right.
The nuked pepperoni in the back,
and behind the pepperoni, hiding,
are slices of Thanksgiving ham.
To the left of the pepperoni,
I have pineapple slices,
and cheeses off to the left.
Here's my dough, risen a little.
I transferred the dough to my pizza paddle
and slid it into a 450 degree oven
onto my pizza stone.
10-12 minutes,
until crust is lightly browned.
Please watch your dough.
At this high a temperature,
things can go askew quickly.
It's like when you're toasting nuts.
If you can smell them,
then they're already burned
I gave my toasted pizza dough
a glop of the tomato sauce.
I like a thin crust
and a thin sauce.
On the top side,
I have nuked and de-greased pepperoni slices
with chopped red onion.
The bottom is Thanksgiving ham strips,
chopped pineapple, sliced red cherries,
diced peppers, and chopped red onion.
Here's the "Hawaiian" part.
And here's the more traditional, pepperoni part.
Cheddar cheese over the pineapple and ham part.
Mozzarella over the pepperoni side.
Fresh parsley and oregano strewn over top.
This went back into a 450 degree oven
onto the pizza stone
for about 12 minutes.
You want the cheese bubbly and nicely tanned.
I love the cornbread enhancement on the crust.
This looks beautiful.
Pepperoni and mozzarella side.
Cherry, pineapple, and ham.
Oh my!
My itch for pizza has been scratched.
For now.
That looks great, Rosie. I love your idea of nuking the pepperoni to get the grease out. I'm pretty sick of turkey, so maybe a pizza is next. Last night we had polenta with a meat ragu and it was perfect. NO TURKEY!!!
ReplyDeleteNMOAC, I'm sick of turkey too. I've made turkey pot pies, turkey burritos, and turkey salad.
ReplyDeletePizza hit the spot!
And I've always nuked my pepperonis. No loss of flavor, but you lose all that grease.
Dang, now I want a pizza too. And I also am married to someone who has to limit his carbs. Funny that.
ReplyDeleteMar, try my crustless pizzas. Pound out a pork loin for the bottom and work from there. Limit the cheese on his side and pile it up on yours.
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