Pizza!

For those of you that make bread with the Artisan Bread in Five recipe, I can attest that the basic or Master recipe makes a very nice pizza crust.  I'm going to list what I did so I'll be able to look it up again.  I hope a reader will get some benefit from this and maybe even offer me a suggestion or two for next time.  Because there will be a next time.  It got rave reviews from my husband and I thought it was pretty darn good, too.

I had a batch of dough in the refrigerator from last weekend when we had a nice yummy loaf, so I didn't have to mix a new batch.  I pulled out a small grapefruit size ball of dough.  This batch was a bit wetter, so as I "cloaked" the dough, I used a generous amount of flour.  I set the cloaked dough ball on an oiled pizza pan.  The dough rested for at least hour.  Then I used floured hands to press the dough out on the pan and it ended up looking like this:    

The dough rested probably 30 to 45 minutes and developed a few little bubbly patches but nothing big.  I heated the oven to 450 degrees and had my pizza stone in the oven getting hot.  (The pizza stayed on the pan so I used the stone just for heat retention.  I don't own a peel and I am pretty sure even if I owned one, the cooking gods wouldn't allow me to use it.*)  

I used one cup of homemade tomato and basil sauce from my end of summer stash in the freezer, a half cup of green pepper (small dice), and about 4 oz of shredded mozzarella.  We like pepperoni so that is the meat that typically graces our pizzas here at Chez Purling Oaks.  I set the pizza pan on top of the pizza stone and the pizza took about 25 minutes total to look like this:   

There are no decent photos of a cross-section but imagine a very thin focaccia or a thick pizza crust.  Very bread-like with small air pockets, cooked all the way through.  Next time, I may consider getting a little roller like Pampered Chef sells to try for a thinner crust, probably using less dough, and maybe cranking the oven up a bit higher.  That said, no, there wasn't any left over.  <g>

This was just my seat-of-the-pants way of making pizza from this dough.  If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments!!  

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I've recently switched my work schedule to 4/10, meaning I work 10 hour days for 4 days a week.  I've been working at least that lately, so why not get an extra day at home?  Yeah, it finally dawned on me.  This will be my first "bonus" Friday this coming week.

The Christmas tree is up and decorated as of this afternoon and the house is about as festive-looking as it will get.  I do enjoy a sparkly, colorful tree.  And it is just in time because the weather woman says we are supposed to get 2 inches after midnight and then Tuesday/Wednesday snow of about 8 to 9 inches is expected.  I guess I'll be coming home to white on Thursday!!  Definitely time to switch over to boots and the wool coat.

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*I have a running challenge with pizza.  It is really too embarrassing to describe my failures but one involves trying to transfer a pizza into an oven.  Key word = trying.  It is quite possible that I cried and stomped my feet that evening.  
 

Happy Sunday evening!!!

  

Comments

[Kitten]

The book itself has ideas for pizza too. I follow their general outline - I roll out the dough straight from the fridge, slap the sucker in the over at 550 and 10 minutes later, I have pizza. (I don't have a peel either, but I use a cookie sheet with no lip as one. I think the trick is lots of cornmeal, plus a spatula for the stubborn spots.)

[kmkat]

Hey, we had homemade pizza for dinner, too! Mmmm. I used the recipe in my bread baker cookbook for pizza dough, except that I subbed a-p flour for half of the bread flour. High gluten flour makes it, er, *challenging* to spread/stretch it to cover the pan -- it keeps springing back. I should have pre-baked the crust for 5-10 minutes before I loaded it with sauce and cheese and sausage leftover from last night. But there were no complaints.

[Anne]

Pizza looks great! One of these days I'm seriously going to get that book. And use it!

I'm glad you were able to change your work schedule to better reflect what you were already doing, and getting credit for it! :^D

[Vicki]

Though a different arrangement (which wouldn't work for you, no way, no how), I LOVE my 4/10 work week. Never thought I'd love it so much, but now I can't imagine it any other way!

Pizza looks delish!! I haven't tried my hand at it in years. Hm.

[Angie]

Pizza is all about the crust. Hope your 4/10 doesn't mean that on returning you have to do a whole day catch up. I work 4/10 but it means 4x 12 hour shifts and 10 days off.

[Joy]

Wow, that looks and sounds really tasty! Good luck with the snow.

[opal]

congratulations on the "new" work schedule. a bonus day off sounds wonderful!

loving the pizza. wanting the pizza. thinking of flying over just for pizza.

o.O

[Cookie]

Yummy!

I really need to get that book out again.

[gayle]

I make homemade pizza often - but I spent a lot of my life making pizza professionally.
Try knocking down the center of the rolled-out dough, leaving a rim around the edge. That will help contain the toppings.
There's nothing so good as homemade pizza...