Passionate About Pizza: Making Great Homemade Pizza (42 page)

Baking
– Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for ten to twelve minutes; the actual baking time may vary from eight to fourteen minutes depending on the oven, but be careful not to bake too long. You want to bake the pizza so that the crust browns nicely but does not overcook. Since this pizza is smaller, it will generally cook faster than a bigger pizza.

Note that this pizza dough has sugar in it from the Herman starter. As a result, it will brown more quickly; so, keep an eye on it! Herman Sourdough dough stays somewhat soft as it bakes and will not be as crunchy-chewy as most pizza crust.

Serving
– After removing the pizza from the oven, let it stand for a few minutes on a trivet until the pizza cools slightly. This allows the toppings and cream cheese sauce to set prior to cutting. Cut the pizza into manageable size slices and serve while still warm.

If you have one, serve the pizza on a perforated pan. The holes in the pan let steam and sauce out so that the crust does not become soggy!

Variations

Dough
– Focaccia Dough, Basic Pizza Dough, Cracker-style Dough
Sauce
– You can use any sweet, gooey dessert sauce.
Toppings
– Any combination of various fruits thinly sliced.

Assembly and Baking
– You can bake this pizza on a pizza screen or pizza pan. If you are very adept at pizza peel technique, you can assemble and bake this pizza on a pizza peel. It can be very difficult to get the pizza moving due to the seepage of sauce through the holes. Do not be surprised if the pizza sticks to the peel.

Fried Pizza Dough

Fried dough – virtually every culture has it. Each variety has a different name, shape, topping, and such but the basics are the same. You take some dough, you fry it up, you add something sweet to it, and you eat it! Where I grew up everyone called fried dough “Pizza Frites”. This is one of the first pizza-related recipes I ever made. My Mom and I made fried dough together when I was a young teenager. I had heard about it from some other kids and asked my Mom if we could make it. She was up for it so we got some pizza dough, fried it up, and dusted it with sugar; it was great! It was a hit with my friends and we made it a few times that year.

Pizza Frites

The quantity of Pizza Frites this makes depends on how much dough you have and how big you make the pieces. The recipe below makes twelve pieces.

1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough (see recipe on
page 92
)
1 quart canola oil (or other oil suitable for high-temperature frying)
1 cup powdered sugar (or cinnamon sugar, if preferred)
unbleached all-purpose flour (for kneading and shaping)

Shaping
– You form Pizza Frites by rolling or stretching dough.

Start by cutting the dough ball into four quarters. Then cut each quarter into three equal sized pieces. This should leave you with twelve pieces of dough. Place the dough balls on a clean, out of the way section of your work area and cover them with a clean, damp kitchen towel. This will keep the remaining dough pieces moist as you shape the others.

One by one, roll each piece of dough into a ball between the palms of your hands. Then pull and stretch the dough into a flattened, oval-shape. Pull the dough until it is approximately 1/8 inch thick. If you make the dough too thick, it takes longer to cook and it can turn out doughy. Any very thin sections can burn before the other parts of the shape cook.

Frying
– Heat the oil to 350 – 375 degrees Fahrenheit in a 10 – 12 inch pan that has at least 2-inch deep sides. I recommend using a thermometer to help you maintain the oil at the proper temperature.

Place one or two pieces of dough into the oil carefully. Tongs or a long-handled fork work well for this. Try not to splash the oil as it can burn you! Let the dough cook for 3 minutes or so until the bottom is golden-brown. With tongs or a long-handled fork, carefully turn over the dough and cook for 3 additional minutes or so until the bottom is golden-brown. When both sides of the dough are well cooked, remove the fried dough from the oil. Place the fried dough on a plate covered with several layers of paper towels to let the oil drain.

After each piece has drained for a minute or two but while it is still hot, sprinkle powdered or cinnamon sugar on the dough to taste.
Serving
– Serve the Pizza Frites with additional sugar, chocolate sauce, or caramel sauce.

Variations

Dough
– Use leftover dough, Focaccia Dough, Basic Pizza Dough, California-style Sourdough Dough, Whole Wheat Dough, Half Wheat Dough, New York-style Dough, Herman Sourdough Dough, Slow Rise Dough, Potato Pizza Dough, Italian-style Dough, and Rye Dough

Shaping and Frying
– You can make pretzel shapes, donut shapes, or beignet shapes. You can let the shaped dough rise for five to fifteen minutes to make puffier.

Mini Pizzas

Your mom probably made mini pizzas from English muffins. You can get them at the bagel store, but this is the real thing! Using homemade pizza dough and your favorite toppings results in a mini pizza that tops any that you have ever had before!

Spicy Scallop Pizzettes

Makes sixteen to thirty-two mini pizzas.

12 ounces sea scallops
1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons red lumpfish caviar
2 teaspoons Chinese spicy chili sauce
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough (see recipe on
page 92
)
Toasted sesame seeds
8 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese
unbleached all-purpose flour (for kneading and shaping)

Toppings
– Cut the sea scallops into 1/2 inch square pieces. Mix the mayonnaise, limejuice, caviar, and chili sauce together. Mix the sea scallops together with the sauce mixture. Melt the butter, add the sesame oil, and stir.

Shaping
– You form Pizzettes by rolling or stretching the dough into shape. The two types turn out slightly differently. Try both to see what you like! In fact, you can do both with one recipe by cutting the dough in half and rolling out one piece of dough and cutting the other piece into dough balls. You will notice in the pictures that I did just this.

Stretching Pizzettes into Shape
- Start by cutting the dough ball into four quarters. Then cut each quarter into four pieces. This should leave you with 16 pieces of dough (if you want very small Pizzettes, you can cut each piece of dough in half again to make 32 pieces of dough). Take each piece of dough and roll it around between the palms of your hands to make it into a ball. Place the dough balls on a clean, out of the way section of your work area and cover them with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Alternatively, you can place the dough balls between two layers of plastic wrap. This will keep the remaining dough pieces from drying out as you shape the others.

One by one, flatten each piece of dough by pressing it against the work surface with the palm of your hand. Flatten, pull, and stretch the dough into a 3 – 4 inch circle. Pull the dough until it is approximately 1/8 inch thick. Place each stretched piece onto an oiled baking sheet or pizza screen. Leave about 1/2 an inch space between the pieces. It will take several baking sheets or pizza screens to hold all the shaped Pizzettes.

Rolling Pizzettes into Shape
- Start by rolling the dough into a large rectangle or oval with a rolling pin. Roll the dough out until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3-inch circular cutter cut out as many circles as you can get from the rolled-out dough. Make each cut very close to the previous cut so that you do not waste dough. You can use a biscuit cutter, a cookie cutter, or even the top of a drinking glass. In fact, you do not have to make them circular; use whatever shape cutter you have or that tickles your fancy!

As you cut each piece, place it onto an oiled baking sheet or pizza screen. Leave about 1/2 an inch space between the pieces. It will take several baking sheets or pizza screens to hold all the shaped Pizzettes. You can take the scraps that remain after cutting the Pizzette shapes, divide it into dough balls, and shape them with your hands or you can reroll out the dough and cut it into more circles.

Assembly
– Brush the entire surface of each Pizzette with some of the butter and sesame oil mixture. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on each Pizzette. Sprinkle a small handful of cheese over the seeds. Give each Pizzette the amount of cheese you like but be aware that the cheese and toppings will flow a little bit as it bakes. Place approximately 1 Tablespoon of scallop mixture in the center of each dough round and spread it out a bit.