I am lucky enough to have older friends with apartments nearby who allow me to raid their kitchens on occassion. I recently enjoyed one such occassion and found myself oddly at home--a feeling much missed by this homebody. My girlfriends and I planned way in advance (a miracle in itself) to treat "our boys" to a home cooked meal. We were so excited for a real meal, and what did we make? Pizza! It felt kind of silly, considering we all have access to pizza every day, but we wanted to throw some dough in the air and make a mess... But really, it was a perfect choice because this time dinner was less about filling our stomachs and all about filling our hearts.

Simple Thin-crust Pizza Dough
bread flour (approx. 3 cups) (bread flour makes the dough more sturdy for spinning, if you use bread flour you don't need to knead or punch down the dough as much after rising.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 packet fast-rising yeast
1 C. hot water (as hot as tap will give you)
2 tsp. olive oil
Blend the yeast with two cups of flour and the salt. Add the water and the oil and mix to form a dough. Add more flour as necessary until you can knead the dough. Knead for about 6 minutes. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl covered with saran wrap, and allow to rise for about 45 minutes. In the mean time, preheat the oven to 400F and prepare your toppings. Split the dough into two pieces and roll into two medium size pizzas on parchment paper. If you can't find parchment paper (some regular grocery stores don't have it), roll out the dough and the place on a cutting board liberally dusted with cornmeal. Grab some guests and have them top their own pizzas!
The pizzas can go directly in the oven on parchment paper (just be careful not to burn the paper onto the crust!). The trick to crust is that it needs to bake directly on a hot surface. I don't have a pizza stone or tiles in my oven, but cooking directly on the floor of the oven works (expecially if you like thin crust crispiness) and even on the rack (more as a last resort to get more in one batch). Bake 12-18 minutes until crust is hard.
Enjoy!!
3 comments:
LF:
Its all about the crust.
Recently catered a gig where I spent an entire rainy afternoon by the oven, baking. Can't beat that feeling.
Its also good to know you kids are keeping up with your cooking skills. Got to keep that edge.
Love, AF
There's also something very poignant about this diary that goes to how how powerful food is attached to memory.
My heart is warmed by your demonstration of the power of love reaching out to all who share in its tastes, the joy it brings, and again, the gift that pleaure brings to life.
Good work, my girl.
There's also something very poignant about this diary that goes to how how powerful food is attached to memory.
My heart is warmed by your demonstration of the power of love reaching out to all who share in its tastes, the joy it brings, and again, the gift that pleaure brings to life.
Good work, my girl.
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