Pizza... and Bread Sticks

While in college, studying some lovely Art History, my friend and I were asked by another student who was conducting some survey what our favorite food was. We both looked incredibly sheepish, wishing we had exciting answers. She said doughnuts. I said pizza. No lobster bisque. No fois gras. Doughnuts. Pizza. This same friend and I made a 4am doughnut run in San Francisco and bought fresh, warm doughnuts with change from my car seats. When I've had a rough day at work (or a great day at work!) we make pizza. I could eat pizza everyday, forever.

Pizza Dough - from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (GREAT book!!)

Makes 2 large pizzas, or 1 pizza and bread sticks

Preheat oven to 425

3 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use all white flour, or just a bit of whole wheat, but the dough is tough if you use all whole wheat.)
tiny bit of cornmeal


In a large bowl, add yeast, warm water, oil and salt. Mix the flours together and knead them into the liquid mixture - by hand or with a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let the dough rise for 30-40 minutes.

Divide dough in two, and generously flour a rolling surface. Roll out one pizza crust at a time. Try to get it pretty thin. Transfer the crust to a pizza stone or a rimmed baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal (I've used dry polenta in a pinch and baking spray in a super-pinch. Cornmeal is what works best for me.) 

Decorate your pizza with whatever sounds good to you, and bake for 15-20 minutes. I like to turn on the low broiler flame for the last 2 minutes of baking to really crisp up the edges.

Toppings... go nuts! For this pizza we used:
1/4 cup jarred marinara sauce
6 oz of fresh mozzarella
1/4 pound cooked spicy Italian sausage
2 chopped roma tomatoes
2 tablespoons slivered red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Dried oregano
Olive oil
Sprinkling of Parmesan cheese  

Other good toppings:
Pesto, cooked chicken, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella
Marinara, zucchini, cooked eggplant, mozzarella, Parmesan
BBQ Sauce, cooked chicken, cilantro, red onion, Monterrey jack cheese 
Marinara, tomatoes, feta cheese, green olives, red onion, salami
Marinara, artichoke hearts, black olives, mushrooms, feta cheese, Parmesan


With the second half of the dough, you can, of course, make a second pizza, or you can roll it out, slice it into thin strips and make bread sticks.

I rolled out the dough, drizzled olive oil all over it, sprinkled it with garlic salt and the last tiny bit of Parmesan cheese, twisted them up and baked them on a cornmeal dusted baking sheet while the pizza cooked. I hope you enjoy some delicious, homemade pizza that takes just a bit longer than delivery. 

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