I used to make pizzas in
Lake George, NY during the summers when I was a
teenager. I knew how to toss the
pizza dough, and I used to teach the
newbies how to do it so we could put on a little show - especially if there was a particularly cute
woman in the audience.
I used to experiment a bit with the recipes, and I came up with a good recipe that people would come back for each year that I worked at the pizza place. They'd ask for the Sauced Pizza, because the recipe used some Chianti in the sauce.
The Dough
- 3.25 cups of white bleached flour
- 1.25 cups of wholemeal flour (adds a bit of texture)
- 1.33 cup warm water, preferably 90 degrees
- One teaspoon of raw cane sugar
- One-half teaspoon of honey
- Pinch of salt
- One packet of active yeast
- 0.25 cup of virgin olive oil
- Set aside: one tablespoon of virgin olive oil
Note: Do not substitute any other oils for virgin olive oil. You won't be happy with the results.
Blend the flour together, then blend in the salt. In a glass bowl, mix the water, honey, sugar and quarter-cup of olive oil. Add in the yeast. Mix out the clumps, then add to the dry mixture. Mix, then knead until the dough is sticky.
Clean off your hands, then put a dab of olive oil on them. Roll the dough into a ball, then coat with half a tablespoon of olive oil you had set aside. I always used a marble slab to raise the dough, as it is easy to clean and does not add any weird flavors to the dough. Let it rise, usually an hour and a half.
Punch down the dough, knead it for a bit, then roll it back into a ball. Put the other half-tablespoon on it and let it rise again. It should triple in size, about three hours.
Your dough is ready. Makes one sixteen-inch thin crust pizza crust. Use a
ceramic or stone pizza platter to bake it in an oven - a metal pan will overcook the bottom when the top is done.
The Sauce
- One 15oz jar of tomato sauce (glass jars are best, get quality!)
- One 12oz can of tomato paste
- 0.25 cup virgin olive oil
- Two teaspoons raw, chopped or minced garlic
- Two teaspoons of oregano
- Two teaspoons of basil
- 0.25 cup raw Videlia or white onions
- 0.5 cup Chianti plus 0.5 cup of Chianti to drink while cooking
- Two tablespoons of (real) salted butter
- OPTIONAL: One cup of sliced mushrooms
After you have punched down the dough and are waiting for it to rise again,
knock back a cup of the Chianti to get in the Italian mood.
In a saucepan, melt the butter and flash-cook the garlic, about one minute. Pull out the garlic, then flash-cook the onions, another minute. Repeat for the mushrooms, if you like fungus pizza. Add the garlic and onions to a stock pot and toss in the tomato paste and sauce. Stir in the oregano and basil. SLOWLY raise the heat until it starts to bubble. Add in the olive oil and the Chianti. Let it begin to boil, stirring constantly. Do not let the sauce burn, it will ruin the whole pizza.
Gather the toppings. You can put what you want on it, but make sure the mozzarella is the skim milk, low moisture variety. If you can slow-cook on a stone, I've used soy-based mozzarella, but it has a tendency to burn. Do not let your toppings pile on higher than three-quarters of an inch, as it will trap in too much moisture and the top of the crust will not be cooked when the bottom is completed.
Assembly
Coat your stone or ceramic pizza slab with a half-teaspoon of olive oil. Spin out or push out the dough with your fingertips. Start at the edges and work in a circle, then work the lump in the middle maintaining your circular pattern. You'll basically be spiraling in to the center. The dough should be about one-quarter inch thick.
Using a ladle, scoop out some sauce in the middle and begin to spiral outward, pushing the sauce with the curved bottom of the ladle. Add more in the middle and keep working outwards until you are within one-half inch from the edge of the crust. If you have mushrooms prepared, put them on the sauce before the cheese. Sprinkle some Parmegan/Romano cheese on the outer edge of the dough. Add your desired mozzerella until satisfied. Pop on some toppings (remembering the topping height rule) and you're ready to go. If you are using sausage or pepperoni, sprinkle on some Parmegan before adding the meat - it will help to keep the grease from getting out of control.
Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for about fifteen minutes. Watch for bubbles, and pop them as they begin to build. Ovens may vary, so watch the top and the bottom of the pizza - the top should be bubble, the crust should be lightly browned to a
caramel color.
This is a great recipe to use on a cooking date. You'll end up drinking the Chianti, getting flour all over, having a delicious pizza and having some romantic times afterwards.