Mama mia, what a convenient comfort food that doubles as healthy meal, a presentation worthy of serving to lunch guests. Gooey, crispy, crunchy, with so much latitude to improvise and be creative. I’m talking about pizza.
I’ve had a round metal pizza tray in my cubboard. It’s become almost invisible when I grab for a pot or pan. But for some reason I noticed it a few weeks ago, and made a mental note to dust it off, clean it, and plan a meal around it. It’s quite a nice pizza pan, heavy-duty aluminum with small holes. I’ve had it for years and probably used it less than a dozen times. It’s been forever since I’ve made a pizza pie.
Pizza pie is what they called it, back in the days when it was a novelty.A pizzeria opened up in my home town and began serving up something new: an authentic tasting Italian dish with a rich complex tomato sauce, dripping with thick gobs of stringy cheese. That was back when pizza was served restaurant style, brought to your table by the slice or whole, and you ate it there on dinner plates with a stack of napkins. You could order it with pepperoni and or mushrooms. That was about it. I never could understand what made that pizza the best I’ve ever ate to this day.
We’ll see if I can make this recipe as memorable. A little rusty on making dough, I considered cheating and buying a pre-made crust. I did pick one up to have on hand in case I botched the job. A search on the internet turned up a thin crust recipe that did look simple. The only thing I changed was whole wheat flour instead of white. I’m here to say the pizza was a success and I didn’t have to use the store-bought crust.
This recipe uses some leftover asparagus and green onions from my local farmer’s market, sweet snap peas from my garden I’ve been trying to use up, and a portabello mushroom and fresh mozzerella cheese bought just for the occasion. You can pile on whatever vegetable you have. The more, the merrier. The pizza will always be the better for it.
Crust:
- 2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/2-1 tblsp olive oil
- cornmeal, handful
Toppings:
- 1 cup pizza or pasta sauce
- fresh mozzerella cheese, quantity as desired
- 1 pint assorted cherry tomatoes, quartered
- portabella mushroom, diced into 1-2″ pieces
- Green onions, 1 or 2 sections, chopped
- Asparagus spears, small bunch cut into thirds
- Snap peas, handful, shelled. Use peas and the pods
Directions:
Mix sugar into the warm water. Sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit 10 minutes to allow it to foam slightly. Pour into a large bowl. Add flour, salt, olive oil. Mix ingredients. Knead 6-8 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding a bit more flour if needed). Cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes.
Lightly grease two 12-inch round pans. Sprinkle with a little bit of cornmeal. Divide dough in half. Place each half on a pan and roll out with a pin until it stretches to 12 inches, making it thicker on the edges.
Spread with pizza or maranara sauce and use the above or toppings of your choice. Bake at 425 F for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly but not burned.
Makes 2 12-inch pizzas
Adapted from: http://low-cholesterol.food.com/recipe/pizza-dough-for-thin-crust-pizza-70165
