Today my daughter asked for homemade pizza for dinner. I have learned that the best way of approaching this is to make a batch of dough, divide into halves and let us each make our own pizza. Her preference for plain cheese and sauce bores me and she would rather starve than eat my pizza with a small amount of sauce, cheese, rapini and pork prom sausage.
This morning at the Ferry Plaza market we found some fresh ground cornmeal so I decided to incorporate into our dough. The recipe, based on one in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, is one that works as written or allows for creativity. Today's variation was approximately
1 cup fresh ground cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tsp yeast
1 1/4 cups water
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
This is a flexible recipe. I combine all ingredients in my kitchen-aid. Stir to combine before taking out of the bowl and kneading briefly. Leave to rise for at least an hour but up to overnight. Dough can also be frozen at this point. When you are ready to cook, roll out on a floured cookie sheet. I like my crust thin, but others may disagree. Top with whatever toppings you prefer and bake in a 500 oven for 10 minutes. At that point, check the crust to see if it is as dark as you like. I like my crust "darkish" and crispy, while my daughter opts for a shorter baking time.
Toppings for her pizza are simple: good tomato sauce, preferably homemade and mozzarella, bought at Cowgirl Creamery at the market this morning.
My pizza featured sauteed rapini from Mariquita with some red pepper, black pepper salt and amazing Olive Oil from Hudson Ranch, sausage from Pork Prom, a small amount of sauce and some mozzarella.
To accompany our pizzas K has water. I had Robert Michel Le Bois des Blanches St-Joseph2005. I loved this wine and may have to find more.
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