Pizza Friday

Ain’t Nobody Don’t Like No Pizza

Whether you are Joe Pizzabox or some elitist gourmet pizza snob you’d be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t like pizza. I am sure there are some folks out there that don’t care for it, but I have never visited that trailer park.

Around the Phos household Friday night is pizza night. I like to make my own, because the more I dine out the more I find I prefer dining in. We used to like Streets of New York, but they eliminated the “Old Standby”, a classic tomato based pizza and went with all sorts of effete “metropizzas” and it was never the same.

My recipe is fairly simple, I pirated the crust recipe from somewhere, I have been using it for years and it hasn’t failed me yet – I did substitute whole wheat flour, but that has been the only mod.

1 cup water

2Tbs light olive oil

2tsp Yeast

3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp salt

½ tsp Italian seasoning

Yield: two crusts

In a mixing bowl, add warm water (hot from the tap) to the yeast. Allow the yeast a few minutes to revive from its dormant state, then add the oil and whisk on low for about two minutes. Add the salt, Italian seasoning and one cup of flour and mix, then add the rest of the flour one cup at a time and mix to form dough. I use a stand mixer and for the last cup of flour switch from the paddle to the dough hook and wait ‘til the dough balls up and climbs the hook. Safety tip – use some spray oil to lube up the paddle and the hook before mixing or it’ll be the devil’s own trying to get the dough off. If you want to make the dough by hand, have at. I let the dough rise for an hour, punch it down and split it in half. One half goes in the fridge for next week’s pizza, the other I roll out (yes, roll out) with my rolling pin. I toss the plain crust into the oven for five minutes to bake. Remove and allow to cool. It may poof up a bit, just pat it down to flatten while it is still hot.

Sauce and Toppings

I don’t get too carried away with this. I use half a can of tomato sauce (about 4oz), pour it over the crust and spread it out as evenly as possible. Sprinkle on some Italian seasoning, hot crushed red peppers and then grate Romano and Parmesan cheese over the top. Don’t go cheap, not all cheese is created equal and the stuff that comes in the can is crap – spring for genuine Parmesan and Romano. Decorate with your favorite ingredients; top with cheese (I use a combination of provolone and Mozzarella). Drizzle some olive oil over the top and sprinkle on some dried oregano. I bake the pizza at 425F for 12 minutes and then check on it – if the cheese is starting to brown in spots it is ready. Pull the pizza, allow to cool a bit, then slice and eat. Or take a picture of it, then slice and eat, if you are the type that takes pictures of all your food. Bonus: waiting for me to take happy snaps of our food drives the wife crazy!