Homemade
pizza is best in my opinion. I had my first experience with pizza in Toronto
while visiting relatives of a high school friend. It was made from scratch –
pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms, and other vegetables I can’t remember now.
Back home in
Saskatchewan we’d been seeing those pizza ads where the guy whirls and tosses
the dough on his fists. I never had the guts to try this! Not long after coming home from Toronto I got a pizza
recipe and began to make it myself, using my mother’s torte pans, which was the
closest I could get at that time to a pizza pan. It made for nice thick crust
edges. My pizzas continued pretty traditional with the pepperoni, etc.
During
university in Saskatoon we began to go out for pizza. I remember there was a
pizza place on Broadway. And I learned that I hated anchovies on pizza, and
didn’t really care for pineapple on it either. But most other toppings were
fine with me.
Years later
I found a quick pizza dough recipe using baking powder.
And then I
bought a cook book by Joie Warner called ‘All the Best Pizza’ which contains my
staple and favourite yeast dough recipe. It also contains marvelous pizza
toppings such as apple and brie, garlic and oil, Tex-Mex, pesto, and so many
more.
Now during
these hot summer days homemade pizza is difficult – who wants to heat up their
house with a 500 degree oven? Some of you may have experimented with pizza on
the barbecue, though I haven’t. However, pizza on a frying pan on top of the
stove works. The key is to have a lid that fits your pan and not to use too
large a pan. Oil the pan liberally (I use olive oil) and put the dough in as
you would in a regular pan, but don’t put any toppings on just yet. Put the lid
on and cook at moderate heat, checking the bottom of the crust. When it looks
done, flip it over, add your toppings, put the lid back on and cook until done.
Here is my
‘quick’ pizza dough recipe; makes 3 or 4 small pizzas (add your own favourite
toppings):
2 cups flour
(I always like to add some whole wheat, and use unbleached white)
2 teaspoons
baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive
oil; ¼ cup milk; 2
eggs
Mix flour,
baking powder, and salt. In another bowl mix olive oil milk and eggs. Add wet
ingredients to dry and stir until too stiff to mix. Then mix by hand, adding a
little more flour if it is sticky. Roll out about ¼ inch thick. If baking in an
oven, bake at 375° F or 190° C.
My all-time favourite yeast pizza
dough recipe:
1 envelope (or 1 tablespoon) dry
yeast; ½ teaspoon sugar or honey; ½ to ¾ cups lukewarm water
3½ cups bread flour (again I use unbleached white and some
whole wheat, up to a cup depending on preference)
½ to 1
teaspoon salt; olive oil for the pan
Stir sugar
and yeast into lukewarm water; set aside for 10 minutes or until foamy.
Mix flour
and salt, then add yeast mixture (you can use a food processor; I do it by
hand, mixing and then kneading). Turn dough onto lightly floured surface.
Knead, then throw down hard 8 or 9 times. Continue until dough is smooth and no
longer sticky (you can add a bit more flour if needed, but not a lot. Lightly
oil dough and place in an oiled bowl large enough to allow dough to triple in
volume. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand (and this is KEY) at least 4
hours, but preferably 6 to 8. (So make the dough in the morning and it’s ready
to use at supper.) When ready to use, gently pull dough from sides of bowl and
slice into 4 sections for thin and chewy or 5 sections for a very thin crisp
crust. Of course, this depends on the size of your pan. When I’m baking it in
the oven I make 2 large pizzas from this, and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Use the dough immediately or wrap in
plastic and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Friends to whom I gave
this recipe told me they stretched out the dough on pans and froze it, then
used it later.
I hope you
have fun with these recipes!
