Pizza Margherita
Carissa Sims (dough recipe originally from cooking.com)
Yield: 2 servings (double toppings for a thinner pizza for 4)
Yeast-free Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp olive oil
TOPPINGS
1 medium ripe tomato (or 2 Roma tomatoes), sliced
2 balls of buffalo mozzarella (regular is fine too), shredded
6-8 whole leaves of fresh basil
Tomato sauce, enough to cover the crust
Yield: 2 servings (double toppings for a thinner pizza for 4)
So as I’m leaving the library today and trying to come up with something for supper, I decide on a pizza. I’ve never made a pizza — being scared away by pizza crust snobs and knowing myself how difficult a good crust is to find; I’ve just always assumed that it was beyond my capabilities. But last night I had made my own ketchup (tomato paste, tomato sauce, vinegar, salt, and garlic) for baked sweet potato fries and baked chicken nuggets breaded in dry oat flakes spiced with rosemary (yummy!) and thought I should use it as soon as possible or it would quickly go bad. I also thought about the basil plant sitting on my kitchen counter (I buy one every week to make Umberto’s delicious tomato and basil pasta, but they also make a beautiful decorative piece), and I had it — pizza margherita! Just had to stop by the supermarket to get some buffalo mozzarella and find a pizza dough recipe on the web that didn’t call for anything I didn’t have. And I did find one and did make my first pizza and oh my god, it was so good (and so easy!). Vitalik and I didn’t talk while eating it — just lots of nodding our heads and grunting. What more could a cook want? (Sept 2007)
Yeast-free Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp olive oil
TOPPINGS
1 medium ripe tomato (or 2 Roma tomatoes), sliced
2 balls of buffalo mozzarella (regular is fine too), shredded
6-8 whole leaves of fresh basil
Tomato sauce, enough to cover the crust
Preheat oven to 400˚F. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Make a well in center — add water and olive oil gradually, adding a little extra water if necessary, until dough comes easily off the sides of the bowl.
Transfer dough to a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, 5-7 minutes. Press or roll the dough flat on a nonstick cookie sheet or pizza pan sprinkled with cornmeal. (I have neither so I flattened my dough on the back of my roasting pan — good trick if you want to slide the pizza onto oven rack during the last minutes for a crustier crust). Brush with olive oil (optional) and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and brush with olive oil again (optional), then spread with tomato sauce, mozarella, basil leaves and tomato. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. (I broil mine for the last minute to get crunchy toppings.)
Serve on a cutting board cut into squares.
NOTE: This crust turned out crispy and comforting — was made with pastry flour, so it reminded me of croissants. The crust was about 1/2-inch thick, which is too thick for my taste. I’ll go for a 1/4-inch in the future.
Double the toppings for a thinner pizza for 4.