Pizza Round 2: Taking It Indoors

I think I may be becoming an Italian somehow in my brain. All I can think of Italian food, how I can make and what to cook from that amazing country next. I think everyone can pretty much agree that anything from this extraordinary country is delicious and dreamy. You are probably thinking that I must be from this culinary capital, but no, I am an Irish girl who dreams of long summers in Positano and moonlit strolls through the streets of Rome. I recently made my own pizza and am VERY excited about the results. I found a great dough recipe that was easy (I am no baker, so take my word for it) and it can be frozen for later use. Which was an amazing revelation when I easily made this same recipe a week later with no dough-making required. There are a ton of pizza dough recipes out there, but I liked the simplicity of this one and it was delicious.

Basic Pizza Dough

Epicurious December 1996

makes dough for one 12-inch pizza or two 9-inch pizzas

Ingredients

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

2/3 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

olive oil

Sprinkle the yeast over the water. Let stand 1 minute, or until the yeast is creamy. Stir until the yeast dissolves.

In a large bowl, combine the 2 cups flour and the salt. Add the yeast mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to oil the top. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft-free place and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Flatten the dough with your fist. Cut the dough into 2 pieces if you want two 9-inch pizzas and shape into balls. Flatten the dough slightly. Dust the tops with the flour. Place the balls of dough on a floured surface and cover each with plastic wrap, allowing room for the dough to expand. Let rise 60 minutes, or until doubled.

At this point you can either use the dough or freeze it. If you freeze the dough, make sure to fully defrost the dough and bring to room temp before rolling it out.

Prosciutto, Fig and Mozzarella Pizza

Forks & Amusement 2010

makes one 9-inch pizza

Ingredients

pizza dough

olive oil

6 thin slices fresh mozzarella (before using, press the slices between 2 pieces of paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible)

2 figs roughly chopped

2 thin slices of Prosciutto

chopped basil for topping

crushed red pepper (optional)

salt and pepper

Tools

Pizza Stone

Wooden Pizza Peel

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees and place pizza stone in middle of the oven to preheat as well for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 9 inch diameter circle, flour the rolling pin if needed. Lightly flour the pizza peel and place pizza on it. Brush the top of the pizza with olive oil. Place the mozzarella, prosciutto and figs on the pizza and sprinkle with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper if using. Slide the pizza into the oven onto the stone and bake for about 15 min or until pizza is bubbling and crust is done. Slide the peel under the pizza and remove from the oven. Sprinkle with basil, slice as desired and eat!

Enjoy!

xoxo

Erin