Pizza

The key to a good pizza is the dough. I used bread flour for years thinking pizza was a form of bread. But it made a thick, heavy pizza the girls didn’t like. Pizza can be made with all-purpose flour and it makes a less thick pizza than the bread flour, but to make a thin, crispy pizza use semolina flour. Semolina is almost the texture of cornmeal and when you are kneading it you will think this can’t be right, but it bakes up perfect.

I always was looking for ways to make a healthier pizza, but one way to make it yummy is with a generous coating of oil in the pan. The girls loved it this way then they were young. It almost fries the crust.

Most bread is frozen after it is baked, but pizza dough is one of the few doughs that freezes just fine as a dough. Once you finish kneading just wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and freeze. To thaw, take off the wrap, place the ball in a bowl, cover with a cloth and go about your business for the day and you will have risen dough when you get back. 

You can also make a pizza by simply adding toppings to a focaccia bread (find recipe in breads). You can add the topping before baking or after it is baked and put the loaf under the broiler. This makes a thick crust pizza. (If you slice the loaf crosswise it can be filled and also placed under the broiler for a sandwich, the fillings can be pizza-ish or completely different.)

Neapolitain Dough:

This is the dough perfect for calzones.

Combine:

¾ cup warm water

1 ½ teaspoons yeast

Once the yeast is dissolved and active add:

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil (any will do)

½ cup of all-purpose flour

½ to ¾ teaspoon salt

Whisk above ingredients together:

Then add:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of flour

Add the flour in portions (the above amount works out to ½ a cup and 2/3 a cup of flour), first stirring the dough and then kneading. The dough will be very soft and smooth.

Allow the dough to rest and rise, some recipes say as little as 15 minutes others recommend a full rise.

Divide into 8 little balls of dough (first divide in half, than those pieces in half, then those pieces in half).

Roll out into little circles (shapes can vary, ovals, random it doesn’t matter). Fill with ingredients and bake for 15 minutes at 400.

A calzone is nothing more than a pizza folded in half. But there are a few tricks, don’t use a thick crust because then it is all dough, but don’t use a super thin one because it won’t hold up. It pretty much has to be made with all-purpose flour to work.

When filling a calzone, it has to be drier than a pizza, because if the contents are all soupy it will run out the sides. 

Nice combinations are; 

a slice of prosciutto or high quality ham, some sautéed veggies, a few shrimp and a slice of cheese. 

Alice liked a slice of cheese, a dab of sauce and crumbled sausage. 

Try to put the wettest ingredient in the middle and not next to the bread, use the cheese and other dry ingredients as buffers against soggy calzones.

For thanksgiving once I made them with sliced turkey, sautéed celery apple and onion and a dab of thick chicken gravy and a slice of turkey on top. Served with cranberry sauce on the side it was a great holiday meal without all the fuss. 

Sprinkle cornmeal on your baking sheet instead of spraying with cooking spray which will make the bottoms of the calzones soggy.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Pizza Dough:

This is the dough I made for years because it included whole wheat flour, something seldom seen in pizza dough recipes.

One Pizza                                                                  Two Pizzas

Combine in a bowl:

¾ cup warm water                                                  1 ½ cups of water

1 scant tablespoon yeast                                         1 tablespoon yeast

Pinch of sugar                                                           Pinch of sugar

Once the yeast is dissolved and bubbly add:

1 cup semolina flour (or all-purpose)                   2 cups semolina flour 

¾ cup whole wheat flour                                       1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

½ teaspoon salt                                                         ¾ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil                                                     ¼ cup oil

Stir in the dry ingredients and oil and then knead until smooth. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for an hour, (dough can be made in advance and allowed to rise in the frig), punch down, roll out on counter with flour to prevent sticking. 

Sprinkle corn meal on a cookie sheet and put the pizza on it, don’t spray with cooking spray it will make the dough soggy, the cornmeal makes a slight gap between the dough and the pan allowing it to cook and not stick. Add toppings and bake at 400 for 15 minutes on bottom rack or until the crust is cooked through on the bottom.

Yeast-less Dough:

Here is a pizza dough without yeast that I have never made, but it is supposed to work just as well in a pinch.

Combine in a bowl:

1 ½ cups flour (any combination of cornmeal, semolina, whole wheat or all-purpose)

2 teaspoons baking powder 

½ teaspoon salt

Make a well in the middle and add:

½ cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

Stir ingredients and then knead, allow to rise, punch down, roll out, add topping, and bake at 400 for 15 minutes (adjust time to thickness).