On Friday, our day off, or "date day" as I like to call it, the Hubs and I decided to have a picnic at one of our favorite spots on the river.
I decided to make a "Pizza Margherita" for our picnic lunch using some of our homegrown basil.
( Don't you love this bread board? It's an olive wood board bought for me by my youngest daughter on her recent trip to Israel.
She bought it in Bethlehem, which means "house of bread"…a bread board from the house of bread…I love it!)
Here's how I made the dough:
In Kitchenaid mixer bowl add:
5 tsp. yeast
2 1/4 cups warm water
2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
Whisk together and let set a few minutes until foamy.
(If it doesn't foam your yeast is dead and you need to buy some new yeast!)
Add 1/4 cup olive oil
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Knead until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic. (8-10 minutes)
In greased bowl let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours (covered with a damp towel or non-stick sprayed plastic wrap)
In the meanwhile preheat oven to 475. If you have a pizza stone preheat it too.
When the dough is done rising, punch it down and form into a pizza on your pizza peel, (the wooden paddle thing), that is dusted with cornmeal.
If you don't have a pizza peel or stone, make on a non-stick sprayed cookie sheet.
Brush dough with olive oil that has been infused with garlic.
(saute minced garlic lightly in olive oil, being careful not to scorch the garlic, as this makes it bitter)
Sprinkle 1 cup grated parmesan cheese on crust.
Top with basil, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.
Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with a bit more olive oil.
Heres where I had trouble…
I didn't have mozzarella and instead of running to the store, I used light string cheese sticks cut up.
These do not melt!
Note to self: Next time, go get some good mozzarella!
The other thing that I find difficult is transferring the pizza off of the wooden pizza peel onto the hot pizza stone in the oven.
If you are a pizza making pro, please explain how you do this without a mess!
Anyway, here is what I ended up with.
So, we wrapped it up warm and headed to the river.
Aside from the not melted, rubbery cheese, it was pretty tasty.
(P.S.: Recipe makes enough dough for two pizzas.)
Still following,
Elizabeth
bethlehem .. house of bread .. bread of life = Jesus.
ReplyDelete♥
pizza looks awesome, 'cept for the stubborn string cheese. ;o)
I think it looks amazing & tasty! I love all the RED!
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Yum! That crust looks delish. :) I have been out of mozzarella too and used string cheese. ;) I saw on another blog to use parchment paper under the pizza crust which makes it easy to transfer. Also, you can use a cookie sheet turned over to the backside with parchment if you don't have a pizza peel. Love the bread board too! How special. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks wonderful. I just use a baking sheet. Which wouldn't work so well for a picnic....
ReplyDeleteOk. Those are the pieces of string cheese. I was wondering about mini marshmallows!
That is one good-looking piece of pizza. And you made the dough by hand. Wow! I'm impressed for real.
ReplyDeleteOK, so if I just had one lousy package of yeast in this house, I would be able to try this one. I am debating as to whether the purchase of one lousy package of yeast constitutes "buying" in my No Buy July.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely be trying this in August if not sooner. I'll have fresh basil way into the fall.
Hi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteYour pizza looks delicious. I'm impressed you made the base yourself. Any time I try to make dough..it turns rubbery...so I have a lot of respect for anyone who can successfully make Scones or Pizza base or bread.
I'm glad you had a good 'date day'
Have a good week
Barb from Australia