No-Knead Pizza Crust

Everyone is on the No-Knead bread wagon right?  You know, the bread making technique made famous in the NY Times?  It creates flavorful, crusty breads letting time do the work for you.  So when the King Arthur Flour blog posted a No-Knead Pizza Crust, it went to the top of my "must make" recipe list.

This recipe did not disappoint.  It did indeed take time, but it created the best homemade pizza crust I've ever made.  It was firm but had great texture and taste.  Don't let the "time factor" steer you off of this recipe.  There was probably only about 5-7 minutes of hands on time.  The rest of the time was waiting while the little yeast workhorses did their thing.

No-Knead Pizza Crust adapted from King Arthur Flour blog

Ingredients:

3 cups bread flour

1/4 tsp. instant yeast

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 - 2 c. warmish water

Directions:

1.  The night before you want to make pizza, mix together all of the ingredients, stirring just to combine.  The mixture will resemble cottage cheese.  

2.  Cover the bowl with Saran Wrap and let it rest overnight until right before you are ready to bake the crust.

3.  When ready to bake the crust, pre-heat your oven with a pizza stone inside to 450 degrees F.  Heavily flour your counter and scrape the "dough" out onto the counter.  Heavily flour the top and use a dough scraper to fold the dough over a few times.  It will be very, very wet and soupy.

4.  Place a square of parchment onto a pizza peel or the back of a cookie sheet.  

5.  Pat the dough out onto the parchment into a circular shape until it is about 1/4 inch thick.

6.  When your oven is pre-heated, slide the dough, parchment and all, onto the pizza stone.  Spray the crusts and the inside walls of your oven with water to create steam and shut the door quickly.  Bake the crust for about 16 minutes.

7.  Remove the crust from the oven and put your pre-cooked toppings on top.  I used tomato paste, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni slices.

8.  Slide the pizza back into the oven for another 8 minutes until the toppings are hot and the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Pizza Puttanesca

I love accolades (even if it is from family members).  We all have a little bit of an ego that needs stroking every once in a while, don't we?  My sister Veronica, a non-cook by anyone's standards, was so inspired by my post about pasta puttanesca, that she has since become a cook!  After the post, she excitedly called me the next day from the grocery store as she was buying all the ingredients to make the dish.  The next day the praise was overwhelming!  (I did take it with a grain of salt since she is 7 months pregnant and might have found it more amazing had I added pickles)  However, that post proved to her that cooking needn't be a complicated and overwhelming thing and that it is possible to make amazing dishes without working all day on them.  She has since made pasta puttanesca a few times and has recently discovered a new recipe, pizza puttanesca, for which she is singing the praises.  

The following recipe, and the photo above, come from Veronica.  She says she got the recipe from Rachel Ray and modified it a little.  The above photo of devoured pizza is what happens when a pregnant woman is put in charge of taking the pictures.  The recipe sounds great though and I'm sure when I make it it will look the same even without being pregnant. 

Pizza Puttanesca  by Joie de vivre's sister Veronica!

2 Tbls. extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 Tbls. anchovy paste or 6 anchovies

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 (28oz.) can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped, pitted, good quality, black olives

Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 prepared thin crust pizza shell

3/4 lb. very thinly sliced fresh mozzarella, or shredded

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat.  Add extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, anchovy paste and red pepper flakes.  When anchovies are melted (if using whole) and garlic is tender, about 2 minutes, add tomatoes and olives.  Simmer sauce 3 to 4 minutes.  Top the pizza with sauce and the sliced (or shredded) cheese.  Bake until crust is crisp, 10 minutes.  Cut and serve.

Uncle Scott and the Magic Cookbook

I love old cookbooks.  They hold so much potential for magic.  One of the favorite cookbooks in my collection is a book I picked up in a used bookstore called Sunset Cookbook of Breads.  I was quickly perusing this cookbook I remember and was slightly intrigued, when my son, strapped in a stroller, started telling me in no uncertain terms that I had spent long enough in the bookstore.  Since the cookbook was only $3.50, I decided just to buy it and finish perusing it at home.  Unbeknownst to me at the time of purchase, the cookbook was filled with newspaper clippings that had been pasted onto the back of the front cover and loose recipes stuck into the pages.  The previous owner had found these recipes worthy to keep and had pasted or placed them in her well used and well loved cookbook.  Already I knew that if she had taken the time to do that, the recipes must be good.  The newspaper clipping was an old recipe for Basic White Bread that makes 6 loaves at once and has a fabulous crumb.  That was the first recipe I tried from this "new" cookbook, not one that was printed in it.  Another time I was reading the book thinking how nice it would be to find a cinnamon roll recipe that could be made the night before and merely placed in the oven the next morning.  All of a sudden, I happened upon one of these loose recipes stuck inside the book that I hadn't noticed before, "Over Nite rolls.  V. Good" it was labeled.  How had I missed this recipe on previous readings?  Ever since, I have re-named this cookbook the Magic Cookbook.  Also ever since, whenever I am perusing cookbooks in used bookstores, I look for those with loose recipes stuck in.  They tell me that the book had been loved, and that the loose recipe is probably noteworthy.

Along this same vein, my sons wanted me to make pizza this past Friday.  As I was looking in my bread machine cookbook for the recipe I usually use (yes, I do cheat and use the bread machine most times....it is a relief to finally make that confession) I happened upon a loose recipe written in my own hand, Uncle Scott's Pizza.  I faintly remember copying this recipe from my mother's recipe file although I didn't remember what it tasted like or even who Uncle Scott was, but, I was in the mood to try something new.  It wasn't EXACTLY magic, although my husband said it tasted similar to a pizza crust made by a pizza chain from Southern California called Numero Uno that he remembers fondly from his youth.  Who Uncle Scott is is still a mystery, although part of him lives on through his recipe, just as part of the woman who previously owned and loved Sunset Cookbook of Breads lives on through her recipes and magic.

Uncle Scott's Pizza by Joie de vivre

Makes 2 pizza crusts

1 c. warm water

1 Tbls. olive oil (plus more for greasing pans)

2 eggs

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbls. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. dry yeast

Add ingredients in the order listed to your bread machine and set to dough setting.  When dough is finished, divide in two and spread each on a well greased pizza pan.  Prick dough all over with a fork, cover with plastic wrap and let rise another 1/2 hour.  Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees) Spread with tomato sauce and toppings of your choice.  Bake for 20 minutes until dough is cooked and is well browned.

Pizza Margherita

I have been craving pizza ever since my parents came to visit a few weeks ago and we ordered a Beer Garden pizza from our local pizzeria.  The crust was very reminiscent of crusts that I've tasted in Rome.  The toppings, too bizarre to make sense, but delicious, were a combination of sauerkraut, sausage and pickles.  Again, I know it sounds bizarre, but it was yummy.  I've been thinking a lot of those pizzas in Rome and how simple but delicious they were and have been trying to recreate them ever since.  This was a recipe I found a few days ago, it comes close.  I didn't have a pizza stone so I think that would probably make a difference too.  It was still the best pizza I've ever made though!

Pizza Margherita  adapted from The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman

Time:  about 3 hours largely unattended

Dough:

3 cups all purpose or bread flour

2 tsp instant active dry yeast

2 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt

2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil.

1 cup water

Toppings:

Fresh mozzarella

Sliced tomatoes

Fresh basil leaves

Rosemary

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt

1.  Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor.  Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water and the oil through the feed tube.

2.  Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch.  If dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process for another 10 seconds.

3.  Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball.  Put the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let rise until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours.

4.  When the dough is ready, form it into a ball and divide it into 2 or more pieces if you like; roll each piece into a round ball.  Place each ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and cover with plastic wrap or a towel.  Let rest until the balls puff slightly, about 20 minutes.  

5.  Roll or lightly press each dough ball into a flat round, lightly flouring the work surface and the dough as necessary.  Let the rounds sit for a few minutes; this will relax the dough and make it easier to roll out.  If you have a peel and baking stone, roll or pat out the dough on the peel, as thin as you like, turning occasionally and sprinkling it with flour as necessary.  If you are using baking sheets, oil them, then press each dough ball into a flat round directly on the oiled sheets.  Then roll or pat out the dough, as thin as you like, flouring or oiling your hands if necessary.

6.  Top with salt and sprinkle with rosemary, sliced fresh tomato, extra virgin olive oil, a little fresh mozzarella, some fresh basil leaves, and salt.

7.  Bake at 500 degrees or higher for about 6 - 12 minutes until nicely browned.