Pizza! Pizza!

Wednesday night I tried a recipe form Ezra Poundcake's blog for "Grandma's Pizza" actually known as "Nonna's Pizza" in any good Italian family. A Sicilian style crusted pizza, made in a pan with cheese and tomatoes. The toppings are sparingly applied but the result is fantastic.

Rising Dough

Baked to perfection.

So first the crust. It did not sound as if this would be enough but I followed the instructions and sure enough it covered the pan. This was yummy and I will make it again. Very fresh tasting and light.

Dough:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups (8 1/4 ounces) bread flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1. For the Dough: Measure 2 tablespoons olive oil onto a rimmed baking sheet (18″ by 13″), and use your fingers to coat the sheet with oil.
2. Measure water and remaining 1 tablespoon oil into a liquid measuring cup. Set aside.
3. Using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt on low speed. With the mixer running, slowly add water mixture, and mix until dough comes together, about 1 minute.
4. Increase speed to medium-low, and mix until dough is smooth and comes away from sides of bowl, about 10 minutes.
5. Place the dough on the oiled baking sheet, and turn to coat. Stretch dough to 10 by 6-inch rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Stretch dough to corners of pan, cover loosely with plastic, and let rise in warm place until slightly puffed, about 45 minutes.
6. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and heat oven to 500 degrees F.
7. For the Topping: Place tomatoes in colander, and drain really well.
8. In a medium bowl, combine drained tomatoes, oil, garlic, oregano, and salt. Set aside.
9. In a second bowl, combine mozzarella and Parmesan. Set aside.
10. Sprinkle cheese mixture over the dough, leaving 1/2-inch border on all sides.
11. Top with tomato mixture, and drizzle with olive oil. Bake until well browned and bubbling, about 12 minutes. (If the oven starts to smoke, lower the temperature or move your pizza up a rack.)
12. Slide pizza onto a wire rack, sprinkle with basil, and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve.

*Cooks Note:  I would pre bake the crust a bit next time as it came out of the over softer than I like on the bottom. A good 10 or 15 minutes (watch carefully) before the toppings might bake it a bit longer before the topping gets too brown.