Pizza Crust revisited

A couple of weekends ago, one of the cooking channels had some kind of pizza appreciation type weekend, and I witnessed many different kinds of pizzas and ways of making them.

One thing I wanted to try, was making a pizza on a splatter screen <--like that one, but you can find a good one cheaper and just about anywhere. I liked the idea of an easier way to ensure the middle of the pizza dough being cooked--a problem I sometimes have.

So I set out to use this new idea, plus I had the time today to devote to giving the dough more hand kneading time, instead of my usual quick mixer way.  Fantastic!

The first pizza, I pre-baked the crust, added toppings, then baked until hot & melted.

 My screen had a hard, plastic handle, so I wrapped it well in foil. 

The pizza came out great! Thin, crisp, flaky crust!

 Here you can see the crispy layers!

This second one, I topped the raw dough and then baked it on the screen. It came out soft and wonderful and fully cooked without guesswork! The crust didn't seem to get as golden as the first, even though I treated both crusts the same before baking. (Brush with extra virgin olive oil, butter, parm)

Both were great!
I'm sharing this different technique for the dough because I love it so much. My old one is great when you don't have a lot of time, but if you have 1-2 hours for the dough to rise, try it!
The recipe is the same, just a bit less sugar. I learned sugar makes for a crisper crust! But mine had comparably more sugar than other recipes out there.  I don't see a difference in taste, but I do see a difference in the dough.
On to the revisited recipe!

• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 1 cup hot water (about 110)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Run hot tap water in a small bowl until the bowl is warm, put 1 cup of hot water into the bowl (about 110 degrees) and whisk with oil and sugar.  Set aside while you whisk together 2 cups of the flour and the salt in a large bowl.
With a hard rubber spatula, gradually stir yeast mixture into the flour. Mix until just barely combined and still wet. Turn out onto 1/2 cup of flour sprinkled on your work surface. Fold over and gently knead in the flour as you go, adding a bit more as needed. Try not to use too much extra flour.  I used almost 3 cups.
Knead about 10 minutes until smooth-elastic-silky and bounces back slightly.

Lightly grease large bowl with a little oil and place dough in it and cover until doubled. About 1-2 hours.

When doubled, putting your hand in a fist and using your knuckles, gently roll your fist, using your knuckles to flatten down (ie: punch down without punching, if that makes sense lol) all around the dough.

Divide the dough in half and shape into two balls.
Cover and set aside for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Taking one of the balls, flatten with your palms.
Using a rolling pin, and starting from the center, roll out, making a circle large enough to fit your screen. Only roll once in each direction, then use your hands to lift the dough onto the screen and stretch gently to fit.
Try not to press the dough into the screen. Be nice to your dough :)

If you like a crispy crust, brush the outter edges of the crust with butter and the inside with olive oil. Sprinkle parmesan cheese around the outter edge of the crust. Pop into preheated oven until golden brown. Let cool a little, then top and bake until hot and cheese is melted.

For a soft crust, brush the raw dough like for the crispy crust and sprinkle with parmesan, top with your favorite toppings and bake until hot and melted!

For another treat, just brush the raw dough generously with butter, sprinkle well with the parmesan cheese in the plastic tubes (I know! bear with me lol), and when it's to your desired doneness, remove from oven and slice in about 2 inch strips and viola! You have Little Ceasar's Breadsticks--only better ;)

Don't forget my Awesome Pizza Sauce !

Calzones

I’ve been making homemade pizzas for a while now and, as Mr. King says, the ‘thrill is gone’. However, my family loves pizza and would not appreciate missing a favorite meal because of my need for a challenge! Calzones were the answer.

The following recipe, like all of my bread recipes, comes from King Arthur's Flour website, (if you haven’t visited I highly recommend it. After trying their Classic Sandwich bread recipe, store bought loaf bread doesn’t darken my door. 

Calzone

Ingredients

• 2 cups of lukewarm water

• 1 Tablespoon sugar

• 1 Tablespoon or packet of yeast

• 6 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur)

• 1 Tablespoon salt

Preparation

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in water; let proof about 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Stir 1 cup of flour into the yeast mixture.

Add salt and stir or start mixer (a KitchenAid is indispensible here); gradually add 4 ½ cups of flour working up to the full amount as the dough starts to form a ball. 

Only add enough to make the dough form, depending on humidity you might not need it all.

Once dough forms a ball, (pulls away from the sides of bowl & sticks together), turn the mixer up one speed and knead dough for about 6-10 minutes. 

Dough should be smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky.

Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning dough so it is coated with the oil. 

Cover with a towel or loose plastic wrap and place in draft free area (I preheat oven to 170 then turn off and place dough inside), and let rise until double in bulk.

*Dough is fully raised: Push a finger into the dough, lightly dimpling it. If the indention doesn’t fill back out it is ready.

Spray counter top with non-stick spray. Squeeze air out of bread (called punching but it is better to gently squeeze the air out rather than punching it) and split into two equal pieces. 

Roll dough into rectangles about 10x14.

Top with selected fillings and roll, jelly roll style.

Sprinkle jelly roll pan with cornmeal and place dough on it; loosely cover with plastic wrap. Let rise again for about 45 minutes.

Slash tops, bake for 15 minutes at 450.

Turn heat down to 400 and bake another 15 minutes or until tops is golden brown.

Allow calzone to ‘rest’ for 10 minutes and then slice and enjoy!

Filling ideas:

Sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, onions, mushrooms with marinara sauce. (I sautéed the vegetables, caramelizing the onions, and fried the pepperoni to make it crispier and get rid of some of the grease). Provolone and mozzarella cheese make this a winning combo!

Provolone, Mozzarella, Parmesan with marinara or Alfredo sauce.

Cooked chicken, mushrooms, Asiago, Mozzarella, and Alfredo sauce. Spinach would be great here too!

Mexican: Taco seasoned, cooked ground beef, onions, peppers, Colby Jack or Pepper jack. Sauce could be enchilada sauce or creamy refried beans!

Use your imagination but be sure to post on When Salad Met Bacon's Facebook page, so we can all try it!

Rachel Lynne

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Easy, Tasty Pizza Crust

After going through dozens of recipes for pizza dough, and having nothing but pizza problems, I finally came up with a good recipe that works and it's easy with little kneading!

To further ease the pizza problems, sprinkle your baking pan liberally with cornmeal so it doesn't stick.  And for a tastier crust, sprinkle some parmesan cheese on the crust after you brush it with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
I'll also be showing you my recipe for my awesome pizza sauce! Don't waste money on the stuff in the store! It's so easy to make at home and really not much more trouble than opening a can and your herb bottles!

I piled mine high with ham, pineapple, cheddar and mozzarella! YUM

In this recipe, I DO use the parmesan in the plastic tubular containers. (crowd gasps) I know! But really! The stuff DOES seem to add a certain tang and flavor to the crust that I can't seem to get with real parm.

This makes 2-12-inch pizzas, I made three personal size and two child size pizzas

On to the recipe!

• 1 pkg or 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast
• 1 cup hot tap water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• Extra virgin olive oil for brushing
• parmesan cheese in a tub
• cornmeal for dusting your baking sheet
• my easy, yummy pizza sauce 

Run tap water in a large glass bowl until water is hot. Dump out and put 1 cup of hot water into the bowl. I find warming the bowl helps.
Dissolve yeast in the water and let sit a minute.

Add sugar, salt, oil and whisk well.

Add half of the flour and beat well (use a wooden spoon or your mixer with dough hooks), until there are no lumps.

Gradually add the remaining flour.

Mix with dough hooks or kneed 5 minutes, or until dough starts climbing up the hooks, pulling away from the bowl, and isn't sticky.

 Dust your hands a bit with flour and your board. Separate dough into balls according to how many and what size pizzas you're making.

Sprinkle your baking sheet liberally with cornmeal and press the dough into rounds:

 Put onto baking sheets and press down a little.

Let rise about 20-30 minutes or so. Press down if you want a thinner crust and brush your pizza crusts with olive oil and sprinkle with real parmesan cheese, if you wish.

Then slip into a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  I like to precook my crusts to ensure they'll be done in the middle.

You can cook them until done and freeze for later use, or start topping your pizzas! 

ohhhhhhhhhhhh mama! I made mine a Hawaiian! I was just missing some olives!
I baked this about 15 minutes or so, until it was hot and bubbly!

My Awesome Three Cheese Pizza Sauce

A good, tangy pizza sauce is so easy to make at home, there's no need to waste money on it at the store. It doesn't take up much more time than opening a can either.
Normally, I just open a can of tomato sauce and then proceed with the herbs and cheeses, omitting the tomatoes and paste, but in this recipe I show you how to make it if you don't happen to have a can of tomato sauce.


On to the recipe!


1 (15 oz or so, the small cans) can of tomatoes or diced tomatos, DO NOT drain
1 little can of tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh grated asiago cheese
1 tablespoon fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon romano cheese
1/2 teaspoon each of:
salt
basil, dried
oregano, dried
marjoram, dried
garlic powder
sugar (yes! I said it! secret ingredient, it will help cut the acidity of the tomatoes too)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Depending what kind of pizza you're making, you can add a pinch of dried red pepper flakes here too.

To easily get tomato past out of the cans, open both sides of the cans and push one side down, pick can lid out of tomato. Tada!  Yeah, I need a manicure, shhh.

Dump everything into a blender and whizz!

Whizz a few times until it's a nice, smooth sauce, put into a saucepan and simmer until your pizza is done.
That's it!  I wouldn't recommend microwaving heating it at this point, it really needs to simmer a bit. Leftovers warm in the microwave just fine.

Time to make some pizza!!