I have a love/hate relationship with make-at-home pizza. It has even caused me to almost cry a couple times. I have tried many ways to make pizza - with and without a pizza stone, in the oven, on the grill, and I'm sure many others. At one point I didn't have a pizza peel, then I decided to get one and I still had problems. My attempts at making pizza in the oven got so dramatic that my husband decided we should get it perfected on the grill. We still had problems with that but we've pressed on.
Now in my opinion, homemade pizza and restaurant pizza are different. I don't feel like you can really compare the two. We have our favorite local pizza joint that we love. We also can get pizzas for a reasonable price. I see making pizza at home as a fun, weekend activity. I don't think I have ever tried to do it during the week. It is fun to create your own toppings and use fresh ingredients. But I don't think it'll ever replace take-out pizza for me.
I find the hardest thing about pizza is dealing with the dough. I've done different versions of dough, store bought, mix, made from scratch and bread-maker dough. But the difficulty with making pizza in the oven or grill is getting the dough onto the stone. Most recipes say to make the pizza on your pizza peel, then transfer to the preheated stone. But most of the time when I've tried to do this, the dough will stick to the peel and change shape. I had one time where it got so messed up, we ate some combination of a calzone and pizza. Too bad I don't have a picture of that! I've tried putting flour and cornmeal under the dough but as the dough sits on the peel, while you're putting toppings on it, it sticks more. As much as I'm not a fan of cornmeal on my pizza (it's too crunchy), you need to be sure to use enough flour and cornmeal to help keep it from sticking. BUT, you also could try to make your pizza on your baking stone while it's not preheated. The last pizza stone I got says that you're not supposed to preheat the stone. It's very confusing but I don't see a huge benefit to preheating the stone. I've also had a pizza stone break partially because of preheating so I'm not 100% sold on the preheating pizza stone method.
Another difficult thing about making pizza at home is dealing with getting the dough into the pizza shape. I don't like using a rolling pin very much (one more thing to wash) so usually I try and shape the dough with my hands. It can be difficult to stretch the dough without creating holes or really thin spots. One of the key things to remember with the dough is that the fresher and the warmer the dough is, the easier it is to work with. Cold dough will not give. You won't be able to do much with it. So, unfortunately you have to plan in advance. If you make the dough yourself, you have to let it rise for 45 minutes. If you buy pre-made dough, be sure that you give it time to come to room temperature.
Grilling pizza is a whole other adventure. My first attempt turned out terrible (just picture - newly married, parents in town for dinner, new recipe, burned dough, tears again), and many of the attempts following didn't work well either. Our grill (an awesome charcoal fancy grill that gets really hot and makes great steaks) gets very hot and tends to burn the pizza. If we try to keep it at a reasonable temperature, it undercooks the pizza. But hey, we've eaten burned pizza where you just cut off the bottom crust. I'm sure if you had a gas grill it would be easy but my husband is a charcoal purist in that way. And you wouldn't get that smoky flavor that grilled pizza has (sometimes too much smoky flavor!). Anyway, charcoal grilling is probably good for a different post.
Oh also, it's best to use pre-cooked vegetables instead of raw. You need to get the water out of the veggies. If you don't do this, then the water might make your pizza soggy.
I haven't made my own pizza sauce yet. I usually just buy some at the store (it's so cheap) and if I have extra, I freeze it in ice cube trays (a great way to freeze pestos or sauces).
But, I've saved the best for last. My new favorite way to make pizza. Almost fool-proof!
I got a cast iron dutch oven for Christmas. The great thing about this dutch oven is that the lid can also be used as a skillet. My skillet is about 10 inches. I used this skillet this last weekend to make a pizza. I used a dough recipe from The Chubby Vegetarian (a favorite blog of mine) and then spread the dough into the skillet and put our toppings on it. It was like a deep dish pizza. Then I used this recipe for deep dish pizza to know how long to cook it for. I cooked it for 15 minutes but it probably could have gone longer. I also oiled my pan a little bit before I put the dough in but I think it could have used more oil. But it was good! I even had problems with my dough (it didn't rise at all) but it still tasted good. I didn't have to worry about transferring the dough or even using cornmeal. And when I took it out of the oven, it reminded me of a delivery chain pizza (but way less greasy!). It's not a huge pizza, we ended up eating the whole pizza between the two of us.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (like Whole Foods 365 brand)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast
About 1/2 cup warm water (but you may not need all water)
Mix dry ingredients and add water until dough holds together and you can work it with your hands. It may be sticky but not too wet. Roll dough into a ball and cover with a bowl.
After 45 minutes, take the dough out of the oven and preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Then, work the dough with your hands (or rolling pin) and stretch it till it fits in your skillet (mine's cast iron and I love it. I'm not sure how it will work with another skillet. Just make sure whatever you use is oven safe!) You probably want to make the dough stretch up into the sides of the skillet so you have a deep dish style pizza.
Pizza Ingredients:
Once you have your pizza assembled, put it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. I would start checking it around 12 minutes and add time as you think. You want the crust to be turning brown and the cheese to start browning. Beyond that, it's up to you. Just be sure to do what you can to check the bottom of the pizza. You don't want it to burn on the bottom.
Let the pizza cool as much as you can before you cut it and eat it. I took mine out of the pan with a spatula to cool since cast iron can hold heat for awhile.
Update 5/1/13 - We made this pizza again and it has worked well for us. This time we added roasted red pepper, garlic, onion and mushrooms that we sauteed first. It was good too. But you have to watch your crust. The pizza crust gets pretty thick with this method. I may try using less dough next time.
Now in my opinion, homemade pizza and restaurant pizza are different. I don't feel like you can really compare the two. We have our favorite local pizza joint that we love. We also can get pizzas for a reasonable price. I see making pizza at home as a fun, weekend activity. I don't think I have ever tried to do it during the week. It is fun to create your own toppings and use fresh ingredients. But I don't think it'll ever replace take-out pizza for me.
I find the hardest thing about pizza is dealing with the dough. I've done different versions of dough, store bought, mix, made from scratch and bread-maker dough. But the difficulty with making pizza in the oven or grill is getting the dough onto the stone. Most recipes say to make the pizza on your pizza peel, then transfer to the preheated stone. But most of the time when I've tried to do this, the dough will stick to the peel and change shape. I had one time where it got so messed up, we ate some combination of a calzone and pizza. Too bad I don't have a picture of that! I've tried putting flour and cornmeal under the dough but as the dough sits on the peel, while you're putting toppings on it, it sticks more. As much as I'm not a fan of cornmeal on my pizza (it's too crunchy), you need to be sure to use enough flour and cornmeal to help keep it from sticking. BUT, you also could try to make your pizza on your baking stone while it's not preheated. The last pizza stone I got says that you're not supposed to preheat the stone. It's very confusing but I don't see a huge benefit to preheating the stone. I've also had a pizza stone break partially because of preheating so I'm not 100% sold on the preheating pizza stone method.
Another difficult thing about making pizza at home is dealing with getting the dough into the pizza shape. I don't like using a rolling pin very much (one more thing to wash) so usually I try and shape the dough with my hands. It can be difficult to stretch the dough without creating holes or really thin spots. One of the key things to remember with the dough is that the fresher and the warmer the dough is, the easier it is to work with. Cold dough will not give. You won't be able to do much with it. So, unfortunately you have to plan in advance. If you make the dough yourself, you have to let it rise for 45 minutes. If you buy pre-made dough, be sure that you give it time to come to room temperature.
Grilling pizza is a whole other adventure. My first attempt turned out terrible (just picture - newly married, parents in town for dinner, new recipe, burned dough, tears again), and many of the attempts following didn't work well either. Our grill (an awesome charcoal fancy grill that gets really hot and makes great steaks) gets very hot and tends to burn the pizza. If we try to keep it at a reasonable temperature, it undercooks the pizza. But hey, we've eaten burned pizza where you just cut off the bottom crust. I'm sure if you had a gas grill it would be easy but my husband is a charcoal purist in that way. And you wouldn't get that smoky flavor that grilled pizza has (sometimes too much smoky flavor!). Anyway, charcoal grilling is probably good for a different post.
Oh also, it's best to use pre-cooked vegetables instead of raw. You need to get the water out of the veggies. If you don't do this, then the water might make your pizza soggy.
I haven't made my own pizza sauce yet. I usually just buy some at the store (it's so cheap) and if I have extra, I freeze it in ice cube trays (a great way to freeze pestos or sauces).
But, I've saved the best for last. My new favorite way to make pizza. Almost fool-proof!
I got a cast iron dutch oven for Christmas. The great thing about this dutch oven is that the lid can also be used as a skillet. My skillet is about 10 inches. I used this skillet this last weekend to make a pizza. I used a dough recipe from The Chubby Vegetarian (a favorite blog of mine) and then spread the dough into the skillet and put our toppings on it. It was like a deep dish pizza. Then I used this recipe for deep dish pizza to know how long to cook it for. I cooked it for 15 minutes but it probably could have gone longer. I also oiled my pan a little bit before I put the dough in but I think it could have used more oil. But it was good! I even had problems with my dough (it didn't rise at all) but it still tasted good. I didn't have to worry about transferring the dough or even using cornmeal. And when I took it out of the oven, it reminded me of a delivery chain pizza (but way less greasy!). It's not a huge pizza, we ended up eating the whole pizza between the two of us.
My Cast Iron Deep Dish Pizza recipe:
Dough:1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (like Whole Foods 365 brand)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast
About 1/2 cup warm water (but you may not need all water)
Mix dry ingredients and add water until dough holds together and you can work it with your hands. It may be sticky but not too wet. Roll dough into a ball and cover with a bowl.
Or you can try putting it in a bowl and covering it with a cloth. If it's cold in your house, you may want to put your dough in the oven while it rises (just be sure not to turn your oven on!).
Let the dough rise for 45 minutes. If it doesn't rise much or any, no worries, it'll still work. While the dough is rising, be sure to oil your pan - the bottom and sides. The amount of oil is up to you but I wouldn't use too much, just a tablespoon or two. After 45 minutes, take the dough out of the oven and preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Then, work the dough with your hands (or rolling pin) and stretch it till it fits in your skillet (mine's cast iron and I love it. I'm not sure how it will work with another skillet. Just make sure whatever you use is oven safe!) You probably want to make the dough stretch up into the sides of the skillet so you have a deep dish style pizza.
Pizza Ingredients:
- Your favorite sauce or pizza base - tomato pizza sauce, pesto, olive oil, etc.
- Your favorite pizza toppings - this time we used 2 slices of bacon, a couple cloves of roasted garlic, and a whole ball of fresh mozzarella cheese (probably too much cheese this time)
- if you use fresh mozzarella, you need to try and get some of the water out of it. Press the cheese between some paper towels or cloths before putting it on the pizza. Also, I like tearing the cheese instead of slicing it (as seen below). The large slices didn't seem to work too well in my opinion.
- Other topping ideas: wilted spinach, roasted red pepper, veggies with no cheese, provolone cheese, blue cheese, various meats (sausage, chicken, ground beef), parmesean cheese
- Herbs and salt and pepper
 |
| Our pizza before it's put in the oven. |
Once you have your pizza assembled, put it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. I would start checking it around 12 minutes and add time as you think. You want the crust to be turning brown and the cheese to start browning. Beyond that, it's up to you. Just be sure to do what you can to check the bottom of the pizza. You don't want it to burn on the bottom.
Ours pulled away from the sides of the pan some so we could see towards the bottom. Also it seemed to move around in the pan some so I used a spatula to try and lift the pizza up and check the bottom crust. Be careful if you try to do this. I could easily see the whole thing falling apart while attempting this.
 |
| The pizza out of the oven and sliced. |
Let the pizza cool as much as you can before you cut it and eat it. I took mine out of the pan with a spatula to cool since cast iron can hold heat for awhile.
I usually find it very difficult to wait for the pizza to cool before I eat it but it really does cut better and you won't burn your mouth if you can wait for it to cool down. Now I'm not saying you want cold pizza (unless you like that), but cool enough for you to touch it and handle it is probably best.
Update 5/1/13 - We made this pizza again and it has worked well for us. This time we added roasted red pepper, garlic, onion and mushrooms that we sauteed first. It was good too. But you have to watch your crust. The pizza crust gets pretty thick with this method. I may try using less dough next time.
Comments
Post a Comment