DIY Pizza

So, I love pizza. It's one of those foods I just can't say 'no' to. There's a piece of pizza in my fridge right now I'm trying to resist eating for at least another hour. I thought writing about it would help, but it really just makes the pizza-lust stronger.

The good news is that I think I've channeled this love into a healthy new direction: making pizzas. The first thing I did was perfect the sauce. This seems like it should be complicated, but it's easy. Just open a big can of the highest quality tomatoes you're willing to shell out for (San Marzano, in my taste tests, deserved the hype), squish 'em a bit with your hands, then put them in a pot over very low heat for, like, five hours, lightly salting them before slathering them on the pizza crust. The only hard part is leaving them alone while they cook. When they start getting thick and sweet and filling your kitchen with delicious smells...you just want to eat 'em all up right out of the pot.

If you've managed to resist the sauce until it's done, then the crust is the next step, and it's a bit trickier. You really do need a pizza stone. (Comic interlude: I bought a pizza stone the other day and, of course, needed to season it. Before I had a chance to do it, though, Dr. dj's brother came by and we decided to drive over to his house to visit the new baby. So, I packed up all of my pizza making supplies thinking, 'oh, it'll be perfect. I'll get to try my first pizza out on friends who would probably especially appreciate someone else cooking for them right now. And all did seem perfect -- until I seasoned the pizza stone. There was smoke *everywhere*. And my poor friends had to take the baby down to the basement to avoid breathing it.... Luckily, the pizza tasted great, which I guess was slightly redeeming.) So, once you've bought and seasoned your pizza stone far from any newborns, you can make the crust. Here's my recipe, adapted from Giada de Laurentiis':

Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast

1 cup (or more) all purpose flour
1 cup (or more) whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey


Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour and salt in another bowl. Add yeast mixture, 3 tablespoons oil, and honey; mix with fork then hands until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. (The dough can be made one day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.) Roll out dough into a circle the size of your pizza stone, starting in center and working outwork toward edges without rolling over them.)

So, once you've gotten your dough all rolled out, you can either transfer it to a pizza peel or take the very hot stone out of the pre-heating (425ºF) oven and quickly form the dough and top it before the stone gets too cold. It works, I promise, you just have to be careful not to burn yourself. It usually takes between 15 and 20 minutes to cook, but you should just keep an eye on it and turn it sometime in the middle of cooking.

As for the topping, well, you're only limited by your imagination. Fresh mozzarella works best, but the stuff is pretty expensive, so I think my next culinary feat will be making my own. Wish me luck!