There's nothing like a great slice of pizza. My mouth is watering, thinking about a fresh hot slice, especially when I'm in need of comfort food, or in the middle of the night when I've been out having a few drinks with some friends. As a New Yorker, I always thought that great pizza came on thin, crispy crust. But when I went to college, the Chicken, Bacon, Ranch sicilian at Antonio's taught me that great pizza also comes on a thick, flaky crust. So if you live in New York, and haven't experience the wonder of Artichoke Pizza, head on down to 14th st. between 1st and 2nd aves. Just this morning, in the wee hours before dawn, we grabbed ourselves some Artichoke pizza, and it was the best goshdarn thick crust pizza I've had since Antonio's. It was like artichoke and spinach dip, on a thick, flaky crust. I will dream about this pizza, but I won't have to in the middle of the night because the best part about Artichoke Pizza is that it's open until 5am. If only I hadn't stuffed my face with it and taken a picture for this post.
Before I started making pizza, I thought it was one of those things that would be hard to make at home. Oh, how I was wrong. Pizza is one of those things that is incredibly easy to make. Once you have a dough you like, you can put whatever you want on it.
My go to recipe is a pizza dough from Tyler's Ultimate. I don't have a stand mixer, so if you want the stand mixer instructions, follow the link to the original recipe.
Pizza Dough
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; whisk gently to dissolve. Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the flour, a little at a time, whisking until all the flour has been incorporated. When the dough starts to come together, switch to a spatula to slowly fold the flour into the dough. Get a feel for the dough by squeezing a small amount together: if it's crumbly, add more water; if it's sticky, add more flour - 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix until the dough gathers into a ball, this should take about 5 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times; kneading until it's smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a round and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e. over a gas pilot light) until doubled in size, about 1 hour. This is a good time to stick a pizza stone, pan, or baking sheet in the oven and pre-heat to 500 degrees F.
Once the dough is domed and spongy, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Roll and stretch the dough into a cylinder and divide into 3 equal pieces. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes so it will be easier to roll out.
Roll or pat out a piece of dough into a 12 inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Dust a pizza paddle with flour and slide it under the pizza dough. Brush the crust with a thin layer of olive oil, and top with your favorite flavors. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Now what are some great flavors you can put on your pizza?
Add the salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the flour, a little at a time, whisking until all the flour has been incorporated. When the dough starts to come together, switch to a spatula to slowly fold the flour into the dough. Get a feel for the dough by squeezing a small amount together: if it's crumbly, add more water; if it's sticky, add more flour - 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix until the dough gathers into a ball, this should take about 5 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times; kneading until it's smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a round and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e. over a gas pilot light) until doubled in size, about 1 hour. This is a good time to stick a pizza stone, pan, or baking sheet in the oven and pre-heat to 500 degrees F.
Once the dough is domed and spongy, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Roll and stretch the dough into a cylinder and divide into 3 equal pieces. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes so it will be easier to roll out.
Roll or pat out a piece of dough into a 12 inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Dust a pizza paddle with flour and slide it under the pizza dough. Brush the crust with a thin layer of olive oil, and top with your favorite flavors. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Now what are some great flavors you can put on your pizza?
- Breakfast pizza, it disappeared so fast I barely got to take this picture
This is one of my favorites
Breakfast Pizza
3 tablespoons pesto (I use store bought, often Costco)
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes (heirloom in the picture)
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms
couple slices of chopped canadian bacon, or regular bacon (as much as you want on the pizza)
4 slices of aged provolone
1 cup shredded parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino romano
1 tablespoon olive oil
Two eggs
Instructions
This is a thin crust pizza, so you want to roll it out thin, about 1/8 inch. Use 1/2 of the dough you've made from the recipe above. Slide the dough onto a oiled sheet pan.
Brush the top of the dough, especially around the crust, with olive oil. Then, using a spoon, spread the pesto thinly over the surface. Break your provolone slices into large pieces and scatter over the pesto. Top with the parm-reggiano.
Evenly distribute the halved tomatoes, mushrooms, and bacon over the surface of the pizza before popping into a pre-heated 500 degree oven. Bake for 5-8 minutes before pulling the pizza out of the oven. Crack the eggs over the top of the pizza and pop back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes or until the cheese has a nice caramelized crust.
- Mushroom and Mexican Blend Pizza
This is a thick crust pizza. I used a pizza pan (doubles as a grill pan) to bake this pizza.
Mushroom and Mexican Blend Pizza
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
1 cup Mexican blend cheese
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup halved grape tomatoes *optional
Instructions
Roll the dough out into a circle, about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick. Slide onto your pizza stone, or oiled pizza pan.
Brush with a little olive oil, and spread the tomato sauce over the surface. Layer first the mexican blend cheese, then the parm-reggiano over the tomato sauce. Top with evenly distributed sliced mushrooms and tomatoes before popping in 500 deg. oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese has caramelized. This pizza will bake for longer because the crust is thicker.
- Classic margherita pizza
This is my favorite, one I'm sure to order especially at a new establishment. You can't, or shouldn't be able to, go wrong with a classic margherita pizza. You can make this thin crust by rolling it free form to 1/8 of an inch, or thick crust as pictured above. This was my very first attempt at making pizza at home, without making the crust (taking baby steps). If you don't have the time, or don't feel up to making pizza dough, Trader Joe's sells 3 kinds of pizza dough. The one pictured is their herb garlic pizza dough.
Margherita Pizza
1/2 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced or sliced
1 handful fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
1/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
Instructions
Brush your rolled out dough with a little olive oil, and then spread your tomato sauce evenly over the surface. Layer first the fresh mozzarella, then the parm-reggiano, roma tomatoes, and finally the fresh basil leaves. Bake in a 500 deg. oven 12-15 minutes for thin crust, 15-18 minutes for thick crust, or until a nice caramelization has formed as pictured above.
- Black bean and goat cheese Pizza
This is the newest pizza we made, on the same night we accomplished roasted rack of lamb. Now you can see why we were exhausted. This recipe was inspired by the scrumptious Spicy Chicken and 3 Cheese Pizza at Max Brenner's. Because I don't eat chicken, this was a meatless pizza. If you wanted, you could totally put the meat back on the pizza by using pre-cooked chicken. We also couldn't find jalapenos so this was a non-spicy pizza. If you have jalapenos, definitely utilize them on this pizza.
Black Bean and Goat Cheese Pizza
1/2 cup canned black beans, drained
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/2 ball fresh mozzarella, sliced
1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
3 tablespoons tomato sauce (made by mixing Hunt's tomato sauce, and tomato paste to get a strong, bright tomato flavor)
1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes
Instructions
This is a thin crust pizza, so roll out to 1/8 inch thick, free form, sliding onto a oiled baking sheet. As always, brush the surface of the dough with a light layer of olive oil. The layering of this pizza is important, because I got it wrong the first time.
Even spread the tomato sauce across the surface of the pizza. Then layer the goat cheese, and black beans, before topping with fresh mozzarella, parm-reggiano, and diced tomatoes.
You want the goat cheese under everything else because you want the goat cheese to remain moist. When I made this, I crumbled the goat cheese on top, which dried out the goat cheese and prevented the mozzarella from caramelizing all over.
Bake at 500 deg.F for 12-18 minutes, or until cheese has caramelized.
EAT RIGHT AWAY! ^_^
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