Monday, October 12, 2009

October is National Pizza Month - Pan Pizza



Since I didn't have the best of luck with store-bought dough for the last two recipes I decided to make my own this time around following the steps from Pizza Therapy. As far as the pizza itself goes, I'm using Chef Sanjay Thumma's recipe for pan pizza. If you're a fan of Indian cuisine you should definitely check out some of his other recipes on his YouTube account.

Ingredients
-375 mL of warm water
-7 grams of yeast (1 packet's worth)
-2 teaspoons of sugar
-1 teaspoon of salt
-5 cups of flour
-250 mL of olive oil
-1/2 cup of pizza sauce
-1 cup of shredded mozzarella
-Your favorite toppings



Directions
Step 1 - In a small bowl mix together your yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of salt.


Step 2 - Add 250 mL of warm (but not hot) water to the mixture and let it sit for around fifteen minutes or until the yeast begins to activate and bubble.


Step 3 - In a separate bowl measure and pour in four cups of flour. Add in 125 mL of olive oil, 125 mL of warm water, and one tablespoon of sugar.




Step 4 - Add your yeast mixture to your flour mixture and stir with a fork until it becomes too thick to continue mixing by hand.


Step 5 - Put around half a cup of flour down on your counter, throw your mixture in there, and knead together until it becomes uniform and solid.



Step 6 - Fold the dough up into a ball, lightly coat it olive oil, place it in a Ziploc bag, and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. Make sure to leave a small opening in the bag for the gas that the yeast creates to escape.



Step 7 - By the next day the dough should have at least doubled in size. Punch the air out of the dough and then leave it out to rise a bit more on the counter. You'll only need half of it for this recipe so cut it down the middle and save the rest for later (it should keep in the fridge for another two or three days).




Step 8 - Throw down a little bit of flour on the counter and knead your dough back in to a ball before putting it in a pan.



Step 9 - Add a layer of sauce to the dough.


Step 10 - Add your toppings.


Step 11 - Add cheese.


Step 12 - Coat the crust with a very thin layer of olive oil.


Step 13 - Place your pan on top of your stove while it's set to a slow flame/medium heat for five or six minutes.


Step 13 - With your oven at 425 degrees, remove your pizza from the pan and put it on a baking stone. If you don't have a baking stone and your pan is heat resistant you can place it in the stove. Bake until golden and enjoy.




The Verdict
Homemade crust is definitely the way to go and so far this is my favorite out of the recipes I've tried out. After finishing the pizza I noticed that the box of the baking stone said not to use flour on it (because it burns) and to use corn meal instead, so next time I'll try that out and see how it works.

Next up, pizza on the grill!

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