February 25th, 2007
I decided to try my hat at making homemade pizza for the first time for a friend’s Oscar party tonight and I must say, it came out really well. I rarely bake so I was a bit intimidated about making the dough and all but it ended up being quite easy. I picked a recipe, adapted from Giada De Laurentis via Epicurious.com (where I get most of my recipes) with a few adjustments that I made as I saw fit. Maybe next time I will do homemade sauce as well! I highly recommend testing this one out, and feel free to be creative with toppings. Next time I make a pizza I’m thinking gorgonzola with caramelised onions. We’ll see if it can top this 
Ingredients:
3/4 cup purchased marinara sauce- I used the 365 Whole Foods brand
1 cup coarsely grated Fontina cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup coarsely grated mozzarella cheese
2 ounces crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (Italian bacon), coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 cups (or more) all purpose 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 according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward 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 cheeses, garlic, then mushrooms and pancetta. Sprinkle with salt and generous amount of pepper.
Bake the pizza until brown on bottom and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Cut the pizza crosswise into rectangles.
Bonus Recipe
Tonight I whipped up something really simple with the leftovers which I thought I would share with all of you. Here is a great option if you want something lower carb or if you want a quick and delicious dinner for yourself. Leftover from last night I had:
Pancetta
Mushrooms
Tomato Sauce
Parmesan Cheese
I wanted to utilize all of these ingredients. I also had some frozen cooked shrimp in the freezer which I usually keep and use for dinners pretty often. With all of this I made what we shall call (for obvious reasons) Shrimp with sauteed pancetta and mushrooms in a tomato sauce with parmesan. This couldn’t be simpler.
Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into a medium sized skillet and heat over a medium flame. While the oil is heating, slice your mushrooms and pancetta. Saute the mushrooms and pancetta in the oil until the pancetta becomes crispy and the mushrooms are cooked through.
While these ingredients are sauteeing, defrost the shrimp (about 10 for one person) in the microwave. Pour about 1/2 a cup of tomato sauce into the hot skillet and then add the shrimp once it has defrosted. Heat the sauce until it begins to boil slightly. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder over the shrimp, mushrooms, and pancetta. Grate the parmesan over everything (as much as you’d like), and enjoy!
Filed under Pizza, Recipes | Comments (7)
Subscribe in RSS
