Foodie Friday: Pizza

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Today’s Foodie Friday happens to also be my birthday. It therefore seems fitting that we focus on the classic birthday party food, pizza.

I started out with Cornmeal Pizza Crust from Martha Stewart. This crust was easy to make. It does take the commitment of letting the dough sit for an hour, so making it the day before can be helpful, if you are looking for a quick meal the next day. I enjoyed that the cornmeal gave the crust an extra crunch and texture.

Ingredients:
Makes 4 seven-inch pizzas

  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 2/3 cups warm water
  • 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal, plus more for pizza peel or baking sheet
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl
Directions:

  • In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the warm water. Let stand until yeast is dissolved and mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.

 

  • Combine flour, cornmeal, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the yeast mixture and oil. Slowly stir ingredients with a wooden spoon just until dough starts to come together. Turn out dough on a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes.

 

 

  • Divide dough into four 4-ounce balls. Place balls in a shallow oiled bowl, turning to coat with oil; cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

 

 

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees.with a pizza stone on lowest rack. Stretch dough into 6- or 7-inch rounds. Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel or inverted baking sheet. Place dough rounds on top, and cover with toppings, as desired.

 

 

  • Slide rounds onto pizza stone, and bake until crust is crisp and golden and toppings are bubbling, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven; serve immediately.

 

 

I then made a sauce from All Recipes, Exquisite Pizza Sauce. This was a basic sauce to whip up, which I appreciated. I skipped the anchovy paste and just added a touch more salt. 

Ingredients

  • 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
  • 6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
  • 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
  • salt to taste


Directions

  1. In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water, Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, anchovy paste, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and salt; mix together, breaking up any clumps of cheese.
  2. Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.

I skipped the toppings for this first around of experimenting with pizza, I really wanted to focus on the crust and the sauce. But who doesn’t love a yummy cheese pizza.




 

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