April 20, 2020

Pizza Dough

dani@slyrooster.com Vegetarian bread maker, dough, pizza, stone pizza oven box 0 Comments

Corona Kitchen Week 6. Yup. Week 6.

I have been avoiding commenting here at Sly Rooster on the current state of affairs because my mood and outlook seem to change with the wind. Monday mornings are particularly hard (does anyone else wake up with their first semi-conscious thought being, “Wtf?”). This past week was filled with lots of mixed messages and I imagine that we are all sitting at home with our heads spinning. Continuing to stay at home vs. restarting the economy. Hopeful news of curves flattening overshadowed by the devastation of thousands more deaths. It seems insignificant to talk about whether kids will go back to school before the end of the year or even in the Fall (this week, our “back-to-school” date was pushed back another month, while others’ school year have been officially cancelled). There’s been promising talk about reentry with new technological developments for testing, monitoring, and tracking. All while we are coming to the realization that life as we knew it will most likely never be the same. Bottomline, if you have been spared the worry and despair of confronting this virus head-on (as either a front-line worker, care giver or patient) then it is probably the uncertainty of life that is attacking your spirit. I hope that for my small readership, these Monday morning posts provide a bit of distraction and hopefully a kitchen project or dinner inspiration. This week, if you aren’t up for making pizza, order it in. You’ll be doing good either way and we all deserve a break!

This week’s recipe includes two pieces of special equipment that you may or may not have and you may or may not need. If you decide to give homemade pizza a try, I think that you will find that it is a fun activity for the whole family. And of course, everyone loves pizza so the end result delivers smiles all around.

About a year ago the kids and I gave Gary a pizza oven for the grill. I’m assuming that most of you don’t have this piece of equipment, a Baker’s Stone Pizza Oven Box,* and it’s certainly not necessary for making pizza at home but it is sort of a game changer. You put this box on your grill, let it heat up and start preparing your pizzas to slide in, one at a time. About 10 minutes after putting the pizza in the oven box, it comes out all bubbling and crisp. It took us a couple of tries to get the pizza just right. A pizza peel (or paddle) certainly helped to get the uncooked pizza in and the finished product out of the oven. A sprinkle of cornmeal keeps things gliding. If you don’t have (or feel like ordering) the pizza oven box, a pizza stone in your kitchen oven is a great alternative. And if you don’t have a pizza stone, I think that you can pre-heat a cookie sheet in your oven and cook your pizza on that but I’d google instructions to be sure.

Regardless of the cooking method, we have found that the pizza dough actually makes the greatest difference. Initially, I bought premade dough from the supermarket or Trader Joe’s and it was tough to work with–springing back while being rolled out and just generally sticky. I imagine that if you bought dough from a favorite pizzeria this wouldn’t be the case (and many of them sell their dough balls) but I decided to make my own. After some experimentation, I landed on a Williams-Sonoma recipe for pizza dough made in the bread maker. Do you have that old wedding gift shoved in some basement closet? Now is the time to take it out! Of course, pizza dough can be made without a bread maker (there are recipes galore, I followed one on the package of “00” flour which is specifically designed for pizza dough) but I can guarantee that this dough comes out perfect every time, resulting in four, very thin, approximately 12-inch pizzas. The dough rolls out easily, is uniform, transfers without fail and results in a crisp crust with a slight chew.

Feel free to improvise with your actual pizzas. Top your raw rolled out dough with a smooth layer of sauce (homemade or bought). As much as I like saucy pizza (just ask Gary, we met over my special request for “pizza with extra sauce”), a little does go a long way when making pizzas at home. We’ve also used pesto which is a nice twist. Top the sauce with your favorite cheese, thick slices of mozzarella being the obvious choice but disks of goat cheese or a sprinkling of shaved Parmesan, also work well, And layer on your favorite toppings. Most recently crisped bacon and sautéed mushrooms were big hits. When the pizzas come out of the oven, a bit of fresh basil or oregano is always a good idea.

So go ahead and make tonight Family Pizza Night. Pull from this post an idea for a birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day or quarantine gift or just wing it with what you have. The silver lining of these days is that activities are well-received and family bonding is at an all-time high. And when COVID-19 is a thing of the past, you will be a pizza-making pro, ready to impress all of your friends. Enjoy!

*As with many consumer products, it seems as though the availability of the recommended pizza box is now limited and the price has skyrocketed (I did not pay $599 for a grill top pizza oven). Keep an eye out for it and in the meantime, practice with a basic pizza stone.