Friday Night Pizza!

A tradition in my family growing up was to have pizza on Friday night.  I've carried that through to my family and seldom do we miss having home made pizza on Friday evening, even though the children are adults now and two live away from here. Growing up, home made pizza was Chef Boyardee from a box.  No matter; Mom doctored up so it was great!  

Here's my recipe from Wall Street Journal. For the dough be sure to allow at least 2 hours. (this makes two large crusts, so before the second rise, i stick 1/2 into a Ziplock Freezer bag and pop it into the freezer. Just bring it out of the bag enough time ahead for it to thaw - don't leave it in the bag because it will rise as it thaws)

 PIZZA DOUGH

THE INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all purpose or bread flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 teaspoon sea or Real salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/3 cups warm water

THE STEPS Add flours, honey, yeast, and salt to the bowl of a food processor or electric mixer and process to combine.  Add water and 2 tablespoons olive oil and continue to process until dough forms a ball.  If dough is sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.  If dough is too dry, add water 1 tablespoon at a time. 

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until you have a smooth elastic ball, about 5 minutes. Knead by hand or with dough hook. Form dough into a smooth ball and place in a large bowl greased with olive oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.  

Cut risen dough in half.  Knead each half briefly and then shape into a ball.  Place the two balls on a lightly floured surface and cover loosely with a clean towel or plastic wrap.  Let rest 1 hour at room temperature or in the refrigerator up to 24 hours.  If refrigerated, let dough come to room temperature before continuing. Use a rolling pin to roll out and your hands to stretch each ball into a circle or whatever size your pizza pan.  If dough becomes too elastic, place it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to relax before continuing. Preheat oven to 350° F.  

Assemble pizza with toppings and bake about 25 minutes if using a metal pan and 30-35 minutes if using a baking stone. The toppings: That's wide open and just your favorites. If you want stuffed crust - Usually, but not always, i roll out the dough large enough that i can place thin slices of cheese along the edge of the pan and cover with dough for stuffed crust. I top the dough with home made pizza sauce (still perfecting it, but it's pretty good) or whatever commercial product you like. 

Top with Parmesan or Parmesan mix shredded cheese.   Next on is previous cooked, drained, and cooled 1 lb of our home raised ground beef (or i plan ahead and turn it into beef sausage - i don't eat pig). Thick sliced Portabella (Babybella) mushrooms or shitake which i buy from my friends Greg and Jan Judy. Shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese or other favorite pizza topper.  

Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom!

 tauna