Pizza Pizza

A couple weekends ago, while my mum was frolicking along the streets of New York, my dad and I attempted to make some home made pizza. We were really adventurous that night. Firstly we only decided at about 6:30pm that we wanted pizza for dinner, secondly we needed to make the crust and sauce from scratch, thirdly I wanted to document everything for blogging purposes.

Winnie captivated by www.allrecipes.com

I learned from making my Hot Cross Buns, that yeast recipe's rest periods need to be taken into account... or else you risk starting a recipe and not being able to eat your creation until hours later (or even the next day). So I began to surf the trusty world wide web for a recipe that did not require resting of dough, pacing back and forth or drumming of any fingers. 

I first stumbled on Heidi Swanson's declaration of the Best Pizza Dough Ever which looks amazing (and one day I will have to give it a try) but I due diligently read the whole recipe. Thank goodness! When you get to step 3 it casually mentions that the dough should rest in the refrigerator overnight. On to the next recipe.

Luckily recipe number 2 was a go... no waiting for no yeast. The recipe that was posted on www.allrecipes.com by Gudny Bjorg Kjaerbo was the winner "Pizza Dough I"... simply due to the recipe's short description: "this one is a quick recipe that merely involves mixing a few basic ingredients and patting the dough into the pan. No need to wait for the dough to rise with this approach". Boom Baby!!

While Dad started on the sauce I started on the dough:

For the sauce we simply blended together:

• 2 chopped tomatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 5 cloves of pressed garlic
• 1 sauteed onion
• 1 teaspoon of italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder (can't have enough of garlic really)

In retrospect, there are a few things that I would do different when it came to the dough. Below is our modified recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

I added: 

• some garlic powder (approx. 1 teaspoon) extra for dusting
• some onion flakes (approx. 1 tablespoon)
• olive oil for brushing the crust
• corn meal for dusting

Directions

• Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. 
• Mix in oil and warm water. 
• Knead on a lightly floured corn meal surface. 
• Knead in garlic powder and onion flakes.
• Spread out on a large pizza pan.  
• Pre-bake crust (I did it for about 5 minutes - which was definitely not long enough - as it was not crispy in centre when complete which is how I prefer it).
• Top as desired.
• Bake at 375 degrees C (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

Now for the toppings we experimented. It included bacon, sliced onions, green sweet pepper, cheddar cheese (so far it sounds pretty normal), and then we threw on grilled eggplant, and chunks of blue cheese (yum!)

A fun pizza topper :) - I recommend

All in all it was a grand attempt and I will most likely use this you-do-not-have-to-wait-for-me-to-rise dough recipe again. The most interesting thing that happened was that the blue cheese actually foamed when it baked... it was weird but when devouring this pizza, a joyous smile crossed our faces whenever we reached a piece of blue cheese treasure - cheesy but true.

So go be ambitious and decide last minute that you want pizza for dinner :)