I’ve got love for cigars and accompanying beverages. I’ve also got a love for food. I thought I’d share something here, see how receptive everyone is to it, and maybe post more like it later.
For me, there is nothing more satisfying in food than seeing a scrumptious looking pizza pie. Especially one that you’ve made yourself. I’ve got a couple high dollar additions to the casa that I plan on implementing in the medium term future. Like a wood burning stove, and a brick house pizza oven. There are all sorts of ways to cook your pizza, but the brick ovens seem to be the best in my opinion. Until then, I’ll settle for my oven.
Even using a regular oven, there are many ways to cook your pizza in there. Deep dish. Thin pans. Cast iron. On a stone slab (closest to the brick oven taste you’re going to get, and even closer is to use the stone right on your BBQ grill set at the highest temp).
Today, I’ll cover a decent all purpose crust and my special sauce (no, not baby gravy, get your mind out of the gutter). Feel free to take these recipes and modify or claim for yourself. I stole the original ideas from a pizza making forum I used to hang out in and tweaked them to my own liking. I use a standard KitchenAid counter top mixer with the dough hook.
You can hand toss this crust. Roll it. Go for a deep dish. Cook on a stone off a peel. To make the breadsticks, divide the dough up after the first rise. Roll out some for the breadsticks, pre-slice, then top with a garlic butter spread and parmesan. Let them rise for the next hour with the rest of the dough meant for the crust. When cooking the breadsticks at the same time as your pizza, they only take about 7-8 minutes. Pull them out and spread more garlic butter spread immediately, allowing it to melt into the sticks for a few minutes. They’ll pull apart easily.
The Sauce
1 can (1LB 12 OZ) crushed tomatoes. I prefer 6in1 from Escalon. Hard to find in a store, but easily and cheaply available from their website.
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons minced dry onion
1 teaspoon salt
3/8 teaspoon black pepper
1.25 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
Mix all ingredients and allow to sit in fridge for at least 2 hours, 5 or more is better. You can easily freeze your remainder afterwards and use for later.
The Crust
This is called a 2 hour pizza crust because you let it rise twice, one hour each. When I make this, I double the recipe and it makes 14+ breadsticks, one 14-inch pie , and one 7-inch pie. My wife doesn’t eat my toppings, so I make her very own personal pan with just cheese and jalapeños.
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon flour
3/4 cup water (112 degrees)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 and 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
Mix water, yeast, salt and sugar until dissolved. Let sit for 2 minutes.
Stir in olive oil.
Add flour and mix.
Allow to rise for 1 hour in a large covered greased/oiled container in a warm place , punch down, rise for another hour, and shape into a well oiled pan 14 inch crust. Usually I pour a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil into my cast iron pan or skillet and coat it thoroughly.
Add your sauce, favorite toppings and bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes, depending on how well done you like it.
Hope you enjoy...
