Pizza

My family and I were somewhat devastated when we learned that “Gramma’s”, one of our favorite Sonoma pizzarias, had suddenly shut down for good. Mostly because they made this amazing vegetarian pizza that was a total saltlick (our word for those foods that have that addicting salt magic). Feta, kalamata olives, capers and artichoke hearts–it had a Greekish quality that I attempted to recreate for dinner tonight.

The new issue of Cook’s Illustrated features pizza, so naturally I was dying to try their hypertested dough recipe, but it calls for a 24-hour refrigeration which I just did not have time for. My go-to dough recipe only calls for a 1-hour rise, but since I had the wrong type of yeast (rapid rise, not regular), I had to create my own recipe, also adding wheat flour to make it more robust.

I did use the Cook’s Illustrated pizza sauce recipe, which interestingly did not require cooking at all! My parents had canned a bunch of tomatoes from our summer garden, which were perfect for this sauce. I couldn’t stop tasting it, to be honest. Delicious from the start.

I made two pizzas tonight: the Gramma’s ripoff: sauce, mozzarella, roasted bell peppers, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, capers, feta cheese, parmesan, salt, and pepper (you can make a really impressive pizza out of stuff from jars, it turns out!!); as well as Pop’s request: pepperoni and yellow bell peppers (with mozzarella, parmesan, salt, and pepper, of course).

I’ll be making pizza again soon, I’m sure–it’s something I make relatively frequently because it’s easy to be creative. I always tell myself to open up a pizza shop because it’s ALWAYS good. Foolproof. Plus I have to try that new CI dough recipe…and I have some fresh mozzarella and goat cheese awaiting my return in my Davis fridge.

 

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1  1/2 teaspoons instant/rapid rise yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup warm (not hot!) water
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (adds great slightly tangy flavor)

1. Measure dry ingredients into large bowl. Add water and vinegar and stir with wooden spoon until dough forms. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes or so, then turn out onto floured counter and knead until a smooth ball forms, adding flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
2. Put dough in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm area for one hour.
3. Divide dough into two equal portions. Stretch and flatten each into a round pizza shape. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper and top as desired. Slide parchment onto hot pizza stone, and bake at 500 degrees on the top rack of the oven for 12 minutes. **If you do not have a pizza stone, simply assemble the pizza on a baking sheet and bake the same: 500 degrees for 12 minutes. Your crust will just be less crispy**

 

Pizza Sauce (from Cook’s Illustrated, January/February 2011)

Ingredients:

• 1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and liquid discarded
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1. Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds.

(sauce in the making!)

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