Thursday, August 30

Wednesday Night Pizza ...

... well, the camera program has been buggered up by Mr Brown (sigh) but last night's pizza was mighty fine, you'll just have to take my word for it.
Now, Urban Koda asked (last week, sorry I've been sick & then busy) for a good pizza crust recipe - so here is the one we use.
For a largish pizza that feeds 2 greedy adults you will need ...
1 cup wholemeal flour (good for the pipes)
1 cup plain flour (we often use semolina but plain, plain flour is fine & dandy)
A pinch of salt (iodised of course, so we don't become cretins)
A gloop of olive oil (about a teaspoon if you want to get technical)
Whack all that lot into a nice big bowl.
Now, in a jug put ...
2 teaspoons of dried yeast (the granulated kind)
1 teaspoon of flour
1 teaspoon of brown sugar (I just think it's better for you, I'm sure white poison would do)
1 cup of blood warm water
Mix that all about to a revolting-looking liquid and wait until a mass of bubbles form on the surface.
Now, scoop the bubbles off & into the flour mix & then pour about 1/2 the liquid in too - start to mix it together, you can add more of the liquid as you need it until if forms a nice non-sticky ball (how much liquid you need depends on quality of flour, humidity and possibly what the moon is up to - this is not an exact science).
When it's come together, toss it out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes - until you get a firm, shiny, beautiful ball of dough (or you can cheat & do it all in a mix master with a dough hook!).
Pop in a bowl, cover, and leave in a warm spot (in winter, cover with cling-film and pop right next to the heating vent, or turn on your espresso machine and let it warm up on the top). It should double or so in size & smell great. (It doesn't take long, it's not like making proper bread.)
So, now punch it, pop back on the bench & knead a bit till it's firm again. Roll it out to fit your tray (or cut in 2 & make 2 smaller ones), pop on your toppings and whack in a FUCKING (high as it will go) hot oven, 10 - 15 minutes for a domestic oven - and eat - try not to burn your mouth.
Yes, you can safely double the recipe if you need to make 2 big pizzas.

6 comments:

Urban Koda said...

Thanks Morgan (or do you prefer mouse?)

I'm thinking it'll be a big pizza party at our house this weekend!

Anonymous said...

Tis always a pleasure to convert someone to the cult of the home-made pizza! I hope you enjoy.
Mouse, Morgan, I answer to both :)

Pink Granite said...

Hi DMM -
Many thanks to you and Mr. Brown! I haven't made a homemade pizza crust in awhile. So this is a good inspiration/reminder to get back to scratch.
;o)
- Lee

Ms Brown Mouse said...

Lee - only do it if you are prepared to never eat shop pizza again - it will only disappoint after you've eaten the real thing.

Urban Koda said...

Home Made Pizza Report
======================

I may have been a little off with the ingredients... I'm a dash of this, squirt of that type chef! But with that said, it turned out fairly well.

The dough was still a little doughly, but that might be due to the fact that the oven probably wasn't hot enough - I'll follow your original directions a little closer next time.

But all in all - Not bad! and for once the toppings were of the quantity befitting a decent pizza.

Thanks again!

Ms Brown Mouse said...

glad to here it worked out (mostly) - for thinner crisper pizzas just roll it out thinner - sometimes a little less water helps on that count too! Just keep at it and you will soon perfect the base for you.
We rather like yeasty doughy pizza - it soaks up all the topping drippings - but that's the good thing about the home-made pizza - it can be tweaked to suit all tastes!