These instructions are written for children, but are meant to be used with age-appropriate adult supervision.
For the dough:
- 1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), NOT fast-acting
- 1 T. sugar
- 1/4 c. very warm (but not hot) water
- 3 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 T. olive oil
- 3/4 c. cool water
- cornmeal
Equipment:
- Pizza stone
- Quarry tiles or a cookie sheet – preferably not an airbake type
Topping suggestions:
- Tomato sauce
- Sliced fresh tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes
- Grated cheese like Parmesan or Asiago
- Mozarella cheese, sliced or grated
- Cooked Italian sausage, crumbled or in chunks
- Ham or pepperoni
- Cooked bacon, crumbled or pieces
- Green and/or black olives
- Onions, peppers, shrimp
- Mushrooms or garlic
- Anything else you think would be good. IT’S YOUR PIZZA – USE YOUR IMAGINATION!!
Put
the oven rack on the lowest level, and put the pizza stone, quarry
tiles or cookie sheet on it. Turn the oven on to 500 degrees
Fahrenheit. The oven should heat up for at least 45 minutes before
baking the pizza.
In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and
yeast, then stir in the warm water. Let it stand for 10 minutes. This
is called proofing, and is a way to check that your yeast is alive and
active. The mixture should be frothy and bubbly, and look like it’s
getting bigger. If it doesn’t look like that, discard it and try again.
The water may have been too hot or too cold (100 to 115 degrees
Fahrenheit is ideal). The yeast may be too old or have been inactivated
in some other way. If it won’t “proof,” don’t continue until you’ve
gotten good yeast. (Note: there is always an expiration date on the
yeast package.)
Put the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl,
a food processor or a mixer fitted with the dough hook. If you’re using
a bowl, add the dry ingredients, make a “well” in the middle and pour
in the yeast mixture. Stir it with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula
until it’s all mixed together and doughy. Add a little extra flour if
it’s really sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead
it until it can form a smooth ball. Kneading is folding the dough over
and pushing it with the heel of your hand over and over.
If
using a food processor, add the yeast mixture and the rest of the
ingredients, turn it on and process until the dough forms a ball on the
blade. If it is sticky, you may have to add sprinklings of flour. Once
it has formed a ball, let it process for about 2 minutes to knead the
dough.
If you’re using the mixer, put all the ingredients in
the bowl of the mixer, add the yeast and turn the mixer on low. Mix
until the ingredients have completely mixed together and are starting
to slap around in the bowl. If it is too sticky, add flour a little at
a time until the dough cleans itself off the sides of the bowl. Turn
the mixer up to about medium and knead for 6 minutes.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes in a warm place. It should have begun to rise.
Cut the dough into 4 to 6 pieces, depending on how big you want your pizzas to be. Dust the pieces with flour.
Roll them out with a rolling pin or stretch them out by hand. You can make the dough thick or thin, whichever way you like.
Sprinkle
a pizza peel or upside down cookie sheet with cornmeal. When you have
your dough in the shape and thickness you want, put it on the cornmeal.
Add whatever toppings you want. Remember that if you layer
toppings thickly the pizza won’t be crisp. It’s fine if you like it
that way – it’s totally up to you.
Open the oven and slide the
pizza onto the pizza stone, quarry tiles or cookie sheet. Bake for
about 10 minutes, until the dough is golden brown and toppings are
bubbly. The baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the
dough and toppings and your individual oven. When it is done, slide it
carefully on the pizza peel (be sure to use hot pads) and eat as soon
as it’s cool enough.
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2011.
