Sunday, August 10, 2008

Pizza delivery!

I've been playing with the idea of starting a food blog for awhile now. My friend Maria told me about Tuesdays with Dorie, which seemed to be the impetus I needed. That and the fact that I recently quit my job, which means more time in the kitchen!

I was having a hard time finding the "right" name. When a friend suggested "bun in the oven", it made us laugh because it is rarely used in the literal sense. I love to bake and cook. I love reading cookbooks, food magazines and watching the Food Network. Getting together with friends and family over a great meal is a good time in my book. I'm married to Jeff and have two kittens, Cooper and Milo.

Now, let's talk about food, shall we....



I've been on a pizza making frenzy the past couple weeks. Ever since I took my friend Sharon's pizza class. So I bought a baking stone and a pizza peel and I see no signs of stopping. Seriously. I've made three in the past week.

It's easy. It's fun to try different combinations of ingredients. And, above all, it's way better than anything delivered. Once you get the hang of making the dough, the rest is easy as pie. Pizza pie, that is.

I've been using my friend Sharon's recipe for dough. I'll probably try others in the future, just for comparison, but hers is very good. It's light and gets a nice crunchy crust on the bottom. It's a wet dough, not one that you roll out. This one you have to press out with your hands onto parchment paper. Lather your hands with olive oil so the dough doesn't stick.


Sharon's Pizza Dough Recipe


2 c. bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp instant dry yeast (same as active dry yeast)
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
1 c. warm water


I used a stand mixer with the dough hook, but if you don't have one it can easily be made in a bowl with a dough whisk or even your hands (messy, but effective). Put dry ingredients in bowl first, mix together. Add olive oil and then honey. tip: adding the olive oil first allows the honey to easily slide off the spoon. Slowly add water to rest of ingredients while mixing on low speed. Cover with plastic and rest 1-1 1/2 hours until it doubles in size. The dough can be made ahead and refridgerated up to 2-3 days until you're ready to use.

Preheat oven with stone at highest temperature for 30 minutes. Mine goes up to 500 degrees. Press dough out on parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and par-bake for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and add toppings, then bake for another 5-9 minutes. Periodically check pizza to see if it's done. I baked mine for another 7 minutes, but it will depend on your oven and size of your pizza.

For this pizza I made a sauce out of canned San Marzano tomatoes*, garlic, olive oil and salt. Added a combination of grated mozzarella and fontina cheese, red onion and pepperoni. Delicious goodness!

*The tomatoes can be found at Williams-Sonoma, your local italian market or online.

I love good food. Pizza is one of my favorites and I'm always in search of a great pizza place. I never have to look again. What can be better than choosing your own quality ingredients , smelling it bake and pulling your masterpiece out of your own oven?! Go ahead, try it. You'll love it.