Ok so perhaps we have not yet attained "perfection" but we have definitely gotten close with our latest attempt. After our last attempt we listed 5 suggestions to try - we used 3 of those and the results were incredible. Spencer said its the best pizza we've EVER made. We did not invite anyone over this time (since Spencer is working weekends right now and has Tuesday - Thursday off work), so you'll have to take our word for it that this was delicious pizza.
We started with a new crust recipe (which Spencer found online and made entirely on his own) that used whole wheat flour in addition to white flour. It was a lot more dense than plain white flour crust but we rolled it out pretty thinly and Spencer felt that next time we should do a double batch.
Above you can see Spencer applying the garlic butter to the edge of the cooked Combination Pizza. We only used about 1/4 lb of turkey sausage (which Spencer also made) and it was the perfect amount.
For the stuffed crust pizza we just put 3 types of cheese as toppings; feeling, as previously mentioned, that additional toppings were not needed because of the awesomeness of the stuffed crust. We used mozzarella cheese sticks in the crust (we used 9 sticks for a solid ring of cheese) and topped the pizza with mozzarella, parmesan and sharp cheddar. It was definitely our favorite of the two we made.
We used our same old sauce recipe, without variations (except that I burned the garlic because I didn't peel the tomatoes prior to beginning to cook the olive oil, onions and garlic in the pan). I did not puree the tomatoes (because I forgot) and ended up using twice as many as the recipe called for because I am not as skilled with the peeling knife as Spencer and ended up wasting about 1/3 of each tomato. We unfortunately could not use fresh oregano because I couldn't find any at Walmart.
Above you can see Spencer's final judgment and that he was thoroughly enjoying the pizzas. Please review our rating below and, as always, if you have suggestions or a desire to attend a pizza party (and you are in the Tremonton area) please call 555-PZZA....or just let me know and we'll invite you!
On a scale of 1-5, here is our assessment:
Whole Wheat Crust: 3.76
Overall Pizza: 4.49
The crust on the combination looks awesome! And even though I don't care for a lot of cheese, that cheese pizza looked tasty. Will you post the dough recipe? I'm thinking of giving pizza-making a try...I'm hungry after reading your post! Most of all, I enjoy seeing how happy you both look :)
ReplyDelete-1 tablespoon granulated sugar or honey (we use honey)
ReplyDelete-1 & 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
-1/4 ounce dry yeast
-1 & 1/4 cups all purpose flour
-2 cups whole wheat flour
-1 teaspoon of salt
-1/4 cup olive oil
Step by Step instructions
-Dissolve sugar or honey in water and add yeast.
-In a separate bowl combine flours.
-Allow to sit until the yeast foams slightly (about 5 minutes)
-Combine 3 cups of the flour mixture and the salt in a bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and oil.
-Knead the mixture, gradually adding enough of the remaining flour mixture so that the dough is no longer sticky. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic (10-15 minutes)
-Shape dough into a ball and place it in a large oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it with the oil.
-Allow to rise until doubled in size (45 minutes to 1 hour)
-Punch down the dough and divide into 2 pieces. This will make two 12-inch pizzas.
After this we use a rolling pin to shape the dough into a circle. Then we place the circle of dough on the pizza pan. I like to shape the edges into a more crust like shape. I also like to poke the dough with a fork after it is on the pan to prevent the dough from bubbling too much. We then place our homemade sauce on and top it with our toppings.
The recipe says to bake at 475 degrees for 20 minutes. We typically set our oven for 400 degrees. Ovens vary so you will need to experiment a little.