Go-to Favorite: Traditional homemade pizza

(C) The Part Time Chef

 

The following dough recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s “Cook your way to the Good Life.” 

 

1 ¼ very warm water

1 sachet (or 2 ¼ tsp) active dry yeast

1 T. kosher salt

1 T. turbinado sugar

2 T. olive oil

 

Mix together in a large bowl (you will use this bowl to incorporate all of the flour into the dough) and let set until yeast is foamy (about 5-10 minutes.)

 

1 c. finely ground semolina

2 ½ c. quality bread flour

OR

3 ½ c. quality bread flour

 

Mix semolina and flour a cup at a time into yeast mixture with a fork until you cannot stir it at all. Add the rest of the flour and knead with your hands, adding more flour a small bit at a time until dough is shiny and elastic. Add to a clean oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight or at least a few hours. Remove dough from fridge about an hour before you wish to cook the pizza. Once dough has warmed up a bit, split into two halves and roll out as thinly as you can. Rolling the dough out on a wooden pizza peel sprinkled generously with finely ground corn meal works well. Let rolled-out dough sit for another 15 minutes.

 

Note:  You can make the dough the same night that you make the pizza.  Start the dough about 1 - 1 1/2 hours before the pizza and do not refrigerate.  Once dough is oiled in the bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside to rise in a warm spot.

 

 

One of the fun things about making pizza at home is choosing toppings:  you can have anything you can dream up...but, sometimes you just want a traditional, no-nonsense pie.  Here is an easy, go-to favorite with ingredients that can easily be kept on hand.

 

One half recipe pizza dough (see above)

1-2 T. Italian dipping oil or olive oil

1/2 c. pesto, homemade or store-bought

8 large slices of hard salame (or other cured meat)

1/2 c. quick-pickle banana peppers or pepperoncini, sliced thinly

1 c. pitted kalamata olives

1 c. fresh mozzarella, cubed

1/2 c. fresh basil, cut into ribbons

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

Prepare the dough as outlined above.  Dock the dough (poke holes all over it with a fork) and preheat the oven to 500 degress with a pizza stone inside.  Allow the oven to come up to temperature and preheat the stone for at least 5 minutes.  Slide the dough off of the peel onto the stone and bake for about 5-7 minutes, or until the crust barely starts to turn golden in spots. 

 

Remove stone from oven and brush oil all over crust.  Spoon pesto into center of crust and smooth out such that sauce covers the whole crust except for about a 1/2 inch.  Be sure not to leave a pool of sauce in the center of the crust, as that will result in soggy, undercooked dough.

 

Layer the ingredients:  salame, banana peppers, kalamata, and mozzarella.  Return stone to the oven and bake an additional 5 - 7 minutes, or until the crust is to the desired doneness.  Remove stone and pizza from the oven and sprinkle with basil. 

 

Slice into 8 pieces. 

 

For more info: contact Keri, the Part Time Chef, at keri@parttimechef.info.