I just have to say that my mom makes the best pizza ever. So when all of my siblings and I were visiting there for my brother’s wedding a few months back, we of course unanimously requested it, and she kindly consented. But we’re large in number and she knows how crazy we are about her pizza, so she was probably afraid to tell us no. 🙂
I use the same method to make pizza at my house, but there’s just something extra special about mom’s home cooking.
It looks like we could have ordered it straight from the California Pizza Kitchen! And its taste is unmatched by any other homemade pizza that I’ve ever consumed. The recipe actually comes from a man who my aunt knew, that owned his own restaurant.
My mom’s always turns out nicely round and very colorfully adorned with toppings. She bakes it on a stone so it cooks perfectly even and turns a pretty golden brown color, too. She’s got serious skills.If pizza-making is a form of art to you, too, I’ll explain how to make it look like the picture above, but don’t worry if yours is not perfect. It will still taste every bit as good. 🙂 The learning curve is very fast for this sort of thing, though, it just takes a little practice.
{PROFESSIONAL HOMEMADE PIZZA}
Yield: Makes 1 large pizza with a little dough leftover
Crust:
Cornmeal (for sprinkling the pizza stones)
1 c. milk (may use powdered milk), warmed
3 T. granulated white sugar
1/3 c. warm water
1 T. yeast
2 1/2 – 3 c. flour
Lawry’s garlic salt (coarse ground with parsley)
olive oil
Your favorite pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought). Our favorites are Classico Fire Roasted Pizza Sauce and Prego Pizza Sauce.
Lots of cheese! (we use Mozzarella)
If your stone isn’t “seasoned” or worn in well enough, sprinkle some cornmeal on it to ensure that the dough won’t stick.
Proof your yeast in the water (let it get frothy). In a microwave-safe bowl, warm milk 45 seconds, then add sugar and stir ’til dissolved. Add yeast mixture and stir.
Next, add 2 c. flour and stir. Add another 1/2 c. flour and stir as best as you can, then start kneading by hand. The finished dough should still be slightly sticky, but if it’s too sticky after 2 1/2 c. flour, add a little more (but no more than 3 c. total).
Let dough rest in bowl for about 10 minutes to raise.
Generously flour your counter top. Roll dough out in a circle. You don’t want the dough to be too thin, but you’ll want it to overlap just a little over the edge of the pizza stone. As you roll it out, grab your stone and hold it above your dough to check sizing. If the edges are uneven, grab a butter knife and trim them a little so it’s more round before folding the edges over.
Carefully transfer it onto your stone. Fold the dough over onto itself all around the edge of the stone and press to form the outer crust.
Brush olive oil over all the dough, including the edges (but not in excess). Sprinkle garlic salt over all (not too generously or it will be too salty), even the edges. Then spread 1/2 jar of pizza sauce. Sprinkle cheese on after spreading sauce.
Add toppings. We like to add ham, sliced onions, pineapple, chopped olives, green peppers, and sometimes mushrooms.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until pizza is a nice brown color like above. If you have two pizzas in one oven, switch them on the racks after about 12 minutes, then set for another 8 minutes, for even baking. Check them frequently so they don’t burn.
{TIPS:}
*If you want to have a stuffed crust, cut 1/2″ (or a little thinner if you prefer) strips of cheese. Leave a 1/2″ overlap on the dough past your stone. Set cheese on edge of stone, fold dough over and press down.
*Make pretty green pepper slices by first washing the whole pepper, slicing it (without cleaning out the insides first), and then removing the inside parts. If adding diced tomatoes, de-seed first, so the juices won’t make the pizza soggy.
*If making a plain cheese pizza, wait ’til the last 5 minutes of baking time to add the cheese, or it will harden.
***For best results, make dough by hand and don’t double the recipe (make two separate batches of dough, if needed).
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I hope your family enjoys this mouthwatering home made pizza as much as mine does!
Natashalh
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Leslie
www.violetimperfection.com
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xo, Claire
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