Monday, June 13, 2011

DIY #s 1 and 2

Wow, I guess I haven't been out for pizza in quite awhile! How sad!

I decided to take matters into my own hands a couple of times this past month. While shopping at Heinen's, a gourmet supermarket in the Cleveland area, I came across some Papa Sal's pizza dough that I decided to buy. One was whole wheat, and the other white.

A couple of weeks ago, I made this one, which has the whole wheat crust, fresh mozzarella, and basil:



And then two nights ago, I tried this one, which has white crust, regular mozzarella, and some steamed & sauteed broccoli.



These were great!

I made them both on a Food Network pizza stone. (I got it as a gift, but according to the link they sell it at Kohl's. I'm sure you could get a version of it just about anywhere they sell kitchen stuff.) Also, my stepdad gave me a great tip to use: sprinkle a bit of corn meal on the stone right before putting the dough on. It helps it not stick to the stone, and it also gives the dough a bit of texture. Apparently pizzerias use a special kind of flour for this purpose, but the corn meal works just as well.

Also, make sure your dough is at room temperature before you attempt to form it into a crust, otherwise it won't stretch and you'll end up with holes in the dough.

Last summer, I got some dough from Fresh Fork Market, a CSA in the area, and they gave directions as far as how to let it rise by placing it in a bowl in a warm, moist area and covering it, etc ... but I believe that the Papa Sal's dough is ready to go (just needs to be room temperature, as mentioned above). You don't need to knead it or let it rise or anything like that.

So have at it! Make your own pizzas. And then send me pics.