Bake Your Own Pizza

Food is my passion, especially Italian. Over the years I have been fortunate to travel to various parts of Italy numerously. That is when I developed the taste for true Italian pizza. I found that the tasty pizzas were made simple, using right ingredients.

I also enjoy cooking and baking at home. I have experimented with many ingredients and methods to bake a pizza which tastes like the ones I have always enjoyed in Italy. Here is s simple recipe for doing it at home:

I gave-up making my own dough ever-since Trader-Joe's introduced their refrigerated pizza dough. It is absolutely great!! Remove the dough from the plastic bag, dust a flat dish or your cleat kitchen counter top with baking flour, make the dough into a round ball, place it onto the floured surface, dust the top of the dough with some more flour and cover it with a cloth. Let it rest and rise for at least 90 minutes.

Use a baking stone similar to the ones in the picture. Heat the oven/stone to 500 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 80-90 minutes prior to baking.

Cut two small Roma tomatoes into four sections and place them into a microwave safe jar and cover with a paper towel. Place the jar into the microwave oven and heat for 2-3 minutes until the tomaoes are fully cooked and steaming. Remove the jar and mesh the tomatoes in the jar as you remove as much of the skin as possible. No salt needed. I prefer adding a pinch of fine saffron to the sause and let it stand covered to infuse the tomato sauce with its sweet aroma.

Depending on the type of pizza I use Provolone or Mozzarela as the main cheese. Brie, Stilton, or Feta may also be used in small amounts.

To prepare, stretch the dough, after it has rested, to 15-16" in diameter. Spread some corn meal onto the pizza paddle and place the stretched dough onto it. With a spoon spread the cooked/crushed tomatoes evenly onto the dough. Place any toppings which you may desire onto the tomato spread followed by the cheese. The cheese does not to be grated. Sliced Provolone or Mozzarela produce work just fine. I use four 5" diameter slices of provolone or Mozzarela for each 16-18"; dough. Bake the pizza on the hot stone for 11-13 minutes. Within 2-3 minutes after placing the pizza in the oven use a pointed knife or a fork to poke holes into any large bubbles which may form on the pizza. After 10 minutes of baking visually inspect the pizza every 30 seconds until the chesse is fully melted with some golden crust and the dough is golden brown.

Remove the pizza from the oven, let it rest for a few minutes on the counter or a wooden board. slice into 6-8 sections and enjoy it with friends.

Following is a very good source for information on pizza: http://www.correllconcepts.com/Encyclopizza/_home_encyclopizza.htm