PERFECT PIZZA

PERFECT PIZZA

The best pizza I have ever made came into being onto March 13, 2011. Here is how it went...

First, is the marinated topping.

1 tablespoon of capers with their liquid
one-half of a red onion (chopped)
one pack (about 10-20 slices) of Genoa ham (quarter or shred the pieces)

Mix all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and pour about 4 tablespoons of olive oil over top, adding dashes of sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and/or crushed red pepper depending on your taste.
Cover the bowl and let sit overnight at room temperature, stirring it every few hours if you are around.
And if you really want, leave the mix to marinate for 48 hours and until the onions are just about to get real funky, that's the edge of flavor baby!

Second is the dough, I use a quick dough recipe I borrowed from the Peace Corps Cookbook.

2 tsp yeast

1 c warm water

1 tbls sugar

3 tbls of oil from your marinade after it has set

1 tsp salt

2 c flour

In a medium sized mixing bowl start by mixing the yeast and sugar into the warm water and wait until it starts to foam up.

Add one cup of flour and the salt right away and mix. Then add increments of flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Knead for a minute or two and let rise about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Once risen, spread the dough out on one of the Air Bake pans pictured here, they seem to work really well for getting your crust right, right meaning a bit crispy at the edges and bottom so that its not all floppy and soggy but still a little bit soft on the inside. To make spreading the dough over the tray easier, pour the remainder of oil from your marinade on the dough or on your hands to provide some pre-meal lubrication ;). If it starts fightin' ya, just let it rest for a few minutes and then spread it out again.

Pre-bake the dough at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until it is firm and you have just a couple hints of brown on the top. The pre-bake is the key to getting your dough baked just right.

Cover the dough with slices of tomato, I use plumb tomatoes.

Then cover the tomatoes with mozzarella. Recently, I picked up a mozzarella by BelGioioso from whole foods, its actually a rolled up sheet of mozzarella which you can cut into strips and then lay over the tomatoes like netting, the same way people lay strips of dough over a fruit pie.

Then spread your marinated toppings onto the pizza and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

You will know when the pizza is ready when the outer rim of the crust is turning brown and your cheese is starting to boil and brown just a little bit. If the crust is baking faster than your cheese, put the oven on broil for just a few minutes to give the cheese a boost.