October 6th, 2009
I was always intimidated by the idea of homemade pizza, until I found a very basic recipe from Giada de Laurentis and realized how simple it can be. It’s part of my repertoire now, and I’ve used her dough here, with some improvisations of my own. Heirloom tomato season is almost over and Whole Foods had some plump yellow and red ones that I had to buy. Their gorgeous color and unique sweetness are the centerpiece of this pizza, plus some gooey mozzarella, herbed jack, loads of garlic and basil. With only a few tools and a little bit of time, a homemade pizza is very attainable!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup purchased marinara sauce- I’ve used the 365 Whole Foods brand or Enrico’s
1 cup coarsely grated hard cheese like herbed jack or fontina
Fresh mozzarella, cut into thick slices (I used about 10 slices)
2 heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
10-15 basil leaves, plucked from the stem
3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 cups (or more) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
Begin by making the pizza dough. You can also make this a day in advance if it is more convenient. Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.
Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. Roll out dough by starting in the center and working outward toward the edges, but not rolling over them.
Preheat oven to 475°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface into a rectangle. Transfer to a baking sheet. Spread marinara sauce over pizza, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle garlic and hard cheese all over the surface of the dough. Then alternate between tomato slices, mozzarella and 10 basil leaves. Finely chop the other 5 basil leaves and mix with a teaspoon of oil in a small bowl. Spread the basil/olive oil mixture on the crust. Sprinkle with salt and generous amount of pepper. Drizzle with a touch of olive oil.
Bake the pizza until it’s brown on the bottom and the cheese has melted, about 15 minutes. Cut the pizza crosswise into rectangles.
We enjoyed this pizza with an arugula salad with baby beets and sliced almonds, plus some extra cheese from the recipe. Paired it with our favorite Pinot Noir from our trip to Oregon, the Scott Paul Audrey, it was a divine combo!
My crust needs improvement, which I hope will come with practice. Anyone have any tips for pizza crust? What’s your favorite pizza recipe?
Related Posts:
Whole Wheat Spirals with Homemade Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes and ArtichokesMini Tomato Tarts with Raclette Cheese and PestoDeceptively Healthy Pasta with “Zucchini Pesto”
Filed under Kosher Recipes, Recipes | Comments (2)
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This pizza looks so delicious – especially in the last picture where the mozarella cheese is slightly brown and bubbling… yum! Give me pizza any day ;) Great blog!
sounds delicious!