After a busy day gunning down the enemy (see previous post, here), what better way to refuel at night than with some homemade pizzas? I made some pizza dough the day before and the kids put the toppings on their pies, then into a HOT oven, and a few minutes later we were all munching on their hot pizzas. The dough was only a say 7 or 8 out of 10, not superb, but not bad for a home pizza, and the kids consumed everything they made… How I wish I had that wood burning brick oven at 700F for home made pizzas… :)
To make the dough, I added roughly 1/2 tablespoon of yeast to 1 and 1/4 cups of lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar to help the yeast bloom. After a few minutes undisturbed, the yeast should be “alive” and if not, start over with fresher yeast. Next, I added 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a teaspoon of kosher salt and the secret ingredient — 4 cups of sifted Italian “00” flour. I found the flour at an Italian food wholesaler and have been meaning to use it in pizza ever since. With a dough hook attachment, I kneaded the mixture for several minutes until smooth, then transferred it to an oiled bowl, covered in plastic wrap, and stuck it in the fridge overnight to rise slowly.
The next day, the dough should have roughly doubled or more in size in the fridge (yes, a slow rise in cold conditions); cut it into two pieces and stretch it out into a pizza shape. Top it with some simple tomato sauce — I used some crushed tomatoes briefly sauteed over high heat with some olive oil and salt — and place whatever toppings you desire. We used some chopped up country ham, shredded mozzarella cheese, grated parmesan cheese and chopped basil leaves.
The Teen made a “Margherita” with just tomato sauce, basil and cheese, while everyone else added ham in. Our first pizza, in the photo up top was a few minutes shy of having a totally crisp underside, but in succeeding pizzas they turned out rather nicely.
It is so easy to make pizza at home, and so relatively economical, I am surprised more folks don’t do this more often. The Teen sometimes cheats and uses those pre-made and frozen crusts in the grocery freezer cases for a fast home-made pizza, but it’s still best to make it from scratch…
36 Responses
I like my pizza crust crispy too!
My kids love homemade pizza and sometimes we do a quick baguette (sliced lengthwise) pizza for breakfast.
Ever tried pakbet toppings? ( bitter melon, thin slices of eggplant , anchovies among them) I didn’t think it would work but I had one with thin pizza crust in a small restaurant bar across from the Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte. It was so unexpected but so good.
I used to buy pre-made crusts, too, from Village Gourmet, but they turn out to be super expensive when you start making your own crust. I use a recipe for focaccia, incorporate herbs in the batter, then roll them out thinly. My kids get a kick out of the dough-tossing part. Beats any commercial pizza around. Plus the mozzarella Hacienda Macalauan sells melts thick and is excellently creamy.
delicioso…my family loves pizza,too!
The family will love this!
MM, what flour brand (usually available ) do you recommend in the absence of your “Italian 000” ?
Kai, is it ok if you share the focacia recipe you use? Would love to learn it.
I love homemade pizza!
Looks wonderful!!!!
am sure they were all wiped out! and i’m sure, too, that this was another unforgettable holiday for the kids. nice one, MM!
hey mm. you’re right! homemade pizza crust kicks ass!
try sprinkling (more like dredging in my case haha) in some fine semolina on your pizza crust before filling and it will turn out nice and crisp! pre-heating your pizza pan on a high oven and transferring immediately after you’ve topped the pizza will get that bottom nice and brown as well – works really well on a pizza stone. :D
@kai yep. focaccia dough works excellently cos it has slightly more water than your typical white bread dough. use approximately 65% (of flour volume) h2o, 1.5% yeast (active dried), 1-2% salt and 1-2% oil. :D
I’ve found the key to a good crust is a pizza stone. Get it nice and hot in an oven that has been put on max for 15 minutes or longer, transfer your pre-rolled dough onto the hot stone and quickly ‘build’ the pizza. Then it takes 10 minutes max at the highest setting on my oven (250 C). I’ve found that it’s made my crust more like Italian pizzas and a lot less bready than when I use a pizza tray.
Where can we buy “00” flour? Bought it from Rustan’s once but have not seen it again.
“Ham and Cheese Pizza” ! this seems to be the default pizza flavor of the Philippines! I remember those days when there were still pizza pedlers who have their ovens packed in mobile carts. The Pizzas that you bought from these peddlers would be really cheap and sweet to boot!
I do love making pizza at home but i never got the tossing part corretly so i just flatten it with a rolling pin! great post MM! :)
I also made homemade pizza last night for my husband and son.
That’s my last resort whenever a cheese in the fridge is
about to have molds. I saved my aged jarlsberg from
going to the leftover bin.
Not a big pizza fan but I am totally amazed at how good the pizza is at Great Lake in Chicago. Pizza is made by hand and only upon order (dough, ingredients, etc) – which accounts partly for the pretty long wait. They only have three choices a day and use ingredients straight from the farm. I urge you to try it out when you have the chance to visit Chicago. I would love to know what you think of it. Have a good week!
~Leah
(https://simplesplendidthings.wordpress.com/)
If you want a crust more similar to a Neapolitan-style crust, decrease the yeast (maybe use 1/4-1/2 teaspoon) and up the hydration to a minimum of 60%, but as high as 70-75%. This makes for a *very* sticky dough so you’ll need a lot of flour in which you will pat out your crust, and you can’t put it on the (well-floured) peel until you’re ready to add the sauce and toppings, and then they must be added very quickly or the dough will stick to the peel and tear when you put it in the oven. High hydration, long rises will give you a nice light crust with a bit of crisp but nice chew, and with those nice bubbles that neapolitan-style pizzas get.
Another thing I do is put a sheet pan upside down in my oven while it’s heating up (300C) so it will be nice and hot when I put the pizza on it. It helps crisp up the bottom more.
On a cable Pinoy Channel, they featured a local guy who home manufactured and sell brick oven (can be table top size) which can use charcoal or wood. I think his store is located somewhere in Paranaque. I recorded the program but lost it; I have been trying to find him in the internet because I really wanted to purchase his ware. This oven can be use for baking pizza (he adds the stone with the purchase) and of course other baked goods. The bottom part where one place the charcoal or wood is like a makeshift drawer which can be pulled out for easy access. Some of the oven are bigger size. Any information – anybody?
@Connie C – Eggplant and anchovies are common toppings for pizza, though I think adding bitter gourd and bagaoong (fermented anchovies) might be crossing the line.
Pizza, like religion and politics, is a source contentious debate, with everyone pitching in with their favorites and which is the best. I enjoy pizza with topped with egg.
The pies in the post look fabulous and it looks like the kiddies enjoyed making them as well as eating them.
Yellow Cab Pizza recently opened here in Silicon Valley.
You can buy for a few dollars Pizza crispers which are essentially elevated, perforated pans.
I have had success with my pizza dough using bread flour or all purpose flour/whole wheat flour together with VITAL wheat gluten added. I also use an inverted cookie sheet which I preheat till smoking hot as my pizza stone (don’t have one!)…but I use parchment paper and stretch the dough over it to fit the size. My family likes THIN CRUST with a bit of chew just like the ones in New York…..not tomato sauce fan so I just mear the dough with basil garlic infused olive oil and for toppings: caramelized onions, sauteed chanterelle mushrooms (for this year’s picking), roasted garlic, fresh mozzarella and basil leaves. …bake at 400 to 450 degrees. Halfway through, I can remove the parchment (pizza just slides off easily and finish baking for the last couple of minutes to get that browned crispy bottom crust. Total baking time since it is thin…only 12 to 14 minutes. Also, our pizzas are not round! It is wherever the dough wants to go when I stretch it…more rustic looking! I also poke my fingers in the thinned out dough to give it DIMPLES!…lots of dimples! Notice how sometimes, one side or part is higher than the others? The dimpling takes care of that problem just like in making foccacia.
If you find it the dough springs back especially if using a rolling pin, let the dough rest for just afew minutes to relax the gluten so you can stretch it further. Letting the dough rise in the cooler also enables one to roll the dough much easier …the dough is totally relaxed. I would be too if my bed is nice and cool rather than warm!
leah, i live in chicago and i agree the pizza at great lake is just superb, if you don’t mind the two-hour wait! it was voted by GQ magazine as the best pizza in the USA. i specially love their earthy cremini mushroom pizza.
Happy New Year, betttyq!
I am intriqued about adding wheat gluten to a dough mixture. May I ask for your pizza dough recipe?
And how long is really the best time to proof a dough?
Thanks, MM and bettyq!
Getter dragon1: Cross the line indeed and it worked!, but of course I love bitter melon.
bettyQ: Love your tips. I am telling you, either write your book with your culinary tips or piggy back a few chapters with MM when writes his cook book. Happy New year!
@Maila – so glad to know you love Great Lake too. Isn’t it so amazing?! The dough itself has such great flavor and texture. I am usually bored with pizzas after several bites – dough and ingredients all lumped together and I can’t really taste anything. Except with Great Lake – I could finish an entire pizza as I’m actually looking forward to the next bite where I might encounter a salt crystal, or that garlic or the crimini. Every single thing in it has taste and presence that you notice the parts that don’t. Their pizza sort of have positive and negative spaces (to let you ruminate on what you’ve just tasted)….ha ha.
~Leah
(https://simplesplendidthings.wordpress.com/)
P.S.
Thanks MM for letting us communicate here
Ooh, i can already smell the melted cheese! :) kids always have fun making pizza, but ours is always with the store-bought pizza dough heehee…
Quillene…please just google the pizza dough recipe…Bon Appetit, I think June 2007. As Ms. Connie C. knows, I just love to type!
Proofing…a slow rise is ideal preferably in the cooler. If you follow the steps, I think you will be pleased with the results. I usually make a triple batch, put each one in a big zip plock bag and give them to my neighbours. I also supply them with the parchment paper. They are on their own with the cookie sheet! Nothing beats fresh pizza hot from the oven! I also shape the dough into small balls and freeze them.
I added more whole wheat flour though than called for and decreased the amount of the all purpose flour a bit. I figured I’d make it more healthy by adding more fiber! But feel free to follow the exact proportions or play around with it…it won’t hurt! It is a very forgiving dough not like cakes!
One more thing…how many racks can fit in your oven? I heat up the inverted cookie sheet on the lowest slot for the racks until smoking hot as I have said. However, when I am ready to bake them, I transfer the inverted cookie sheet on the upper third. …this way, I get the edges nicely browned as well keeping in mind that the cookie sheet is very HOT and will make the bottom nicely browned at the same time. Check though your pizza after 8 minutes. Switch your pans from front to back esp. if you have hot spots! Do not TURN YOUR BACK once you have the pizza in the oven and decide to do something else!….BIG MISTAKE esp. when the pizza crust is THIN!
HAppy New Year too, Ms. Connie C. Are you already over at Hacienda Kudyapi? …must be for you have been quiet lately!
Happy Three Kings!
Happy New year Betty Q! you and MM are really very generous persons!
Wouldn’t know if this helps but try using beer instead of water for thin crust. And have you ever tried your paella sofrito instead of tomato sauce ? BTW, Happy New Year MM ! Cheers !
Thanks, bettyq! And I wholeheartedly agree with Connie C on the writing a book with your wonderful side notes and tips!
Yours and MM’s combined will definitely be a blockbuster! :D Happy New Year again.
bettyq, my topping consists of fresh tomatoes, bell pepper, fresh basil and chorizos, cheese. If I transfer my pizza to the upper third, won’t it overcook my toppings esp the veggies? I use convection oven and I have no setting for only the bottom part. :)
Hi , I bought a fantastic portable brick oven from Jerry Yu +639205760256 . You may want to check his products. He makes them in all sizes and it even comes with a pizza stone. I only use the ready made pizza dough and it comes out really crisp. It is great for roast chicken , fish …
@Getter Dragon 1 – connie c is right. it may be unthinkable but it really works.
@connie c – the place is called Herencia’s in Ilocos Norte. i still have a picture of the pinakbet pizza, vigan longanisa pizza and the place. yummy!!!!
I used to make my own pizza from scratch but that was ages ago and my friends and family loved it.. This article somehow brought back my interest to do it again.
wow..amazing,..i like pizza..yummylicious..
That pizza looks really good, but may I suggest that you use the american flour, “O” since it used here in Italy to make pizza. I took a course in pizza, and with the “0” flour it will take at least 8 hours for the flour to rise, and of course natural yeast and a bit of beer yeast, as well as natural water (w/o chlorine)- will produce a perfect dough.