Pizza Night

I don't remember exactly when my mom started making pizza, but when she started, she didn't look back. Friday nights became pizza night, followed by some quality family television on TGIF on ABC. Remember Boy Meets World? Classic! I've mentioned before that I never took interest in learning to cook as a young'un, and I never thought to learn to make pizza. I just enjoyed being served the cheesy goodness on a weekly basis. Finally, I tried it out for myself, with some direction from my ma.

This dough recipe is quick and easy for relatively instant pizza gratification.

I use:

2 1/2 cups of bread flour
1 cup of warm water
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 packet of "Pizza Crust Yeast"
A pizza stone

Preheat the oven to 450ºF right away. In a bowl, empty the yeast packet, and add the sugar and warm water. Wait about 10 minutes and give it swirl in the bowl. It will get creamy looking.

Add the flour, salt and oil. Mix it right in the bowl with a wooden spoon. Add some more warm water if it looks too dry. When everything is mixed, take out the dough and knead it a few minutes on a lightly floured surface. Put it back in the bowl and let it rest for another 10 minutes. This is great time to prepare your toppings! For this pizza, I used some homemade marinara from our very own San Marzanos. I'll have to share that recipe shortly...

Using the heel of your palms, work the dough out from the center. Stretch and tug 'til you have about a 24" diameter. Sprinkle a light coating of cornmeal on the pizza stone, and transfer the dough carefully to the stone. Add toppings of your choice, get fancy or go simple. A general rule of thumb is no more than three toppings to balance flavor. A classic Margherita has tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. Use the back of a large spoon to evenly distribute the sauce, I get about a half inch away from the crust. Slice the about a quarter inch thick for perfect cheese melting dispersal.

Put the pizza in the middle rack for 15 - 20 minutes. I put the timer on for 15, check on it and gauge from there. The crust should be golden brown, and the cheese should be bubbling. Remove it and let it cool a minute or two before you slice it up.