Homemade Pizza Two Ways

When I was little, we used to go to a restaurant that would give kids little balls of pizza dough to play with before the food arrived. It was so much more exciting than crayons and a coloring book. Although I can't remember what restaurant it was that offered this unusual activity, I do remember how fun it was to stretch and mold that dough. It was like all-natural play-doh, but you could actually eat it (or, you could eat it and it wouldn't taste awful).

I hadn't thought about this distant memory for many years until yesterday. As I was making my own pizza dough, the aroma of flour and yeast suddenly brought me back to my childhood. It's safe to say that the scent of fresh dough is one of my favorites, right behind the smell of warm butter and sugar.

Although it's hard to believe, there was a brief time a few years ago when I didn't even like pizza (gasp!). Thank goodness my tastes have adapted, because good pizza is really one of my favorite foods. And when you can make good pizza at home? Even better.

It's my goal this summer to make homemade bread and this pizza was a successful foray into yeast breads. The dough itself was incredibly easy to make. Kneading the dough by hand really allows you to experience the transformation from a shaggy, floury amalgamation to a smooth, elastic ball of dough. After a leisurely rise, the dough was ready to be stretched and adorned with toppings.

I think my favorite thing about pizza is how creative you can be with the toppings. This batch of dough made enough for two medium-sized pizzas and I wanted to make one classic pizza and one that was a bit more whimsical. For the classic pizza, I took inspiration from one of my new cookbooks, Molto Gusto by Mario Batali. There are dozens of pizza recipes in the book, and one that looked particularly delicious combined tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, anchovies, and capers.

Romana pizza with tomato, fresh mozzarella, anchovies, and capers

While that pizza is decidedly savory, the other has several sweet components. The pizza has a base of sweet caramelized onions; fig jam, mascarpone cheese, balsamic reduction, and chopped pistachios finish the pizza, offering contrasting tastes and textures.

Pizza with caramelized onions, fig jam, mascarpone, pistachios, and balsamic syrup

Both of these pizzas are equally delicious (my mom enjoyed the caramelized onion and fig pizza, while I was fonder of the tomato and anchovy one) and their brief sojourn on a baking stone in a searingly hot oven rendered the crust crisp yet chewy.

We couldn't stop "mmm"-ing and "ahh"-ing over this simple yet satisfying meal. With pizza this good and this easy, it's safe to say we will be for a good while longer.

Pizza so good you'll eat half a slice before photos have been taken (*cough* mom! *cough*)

Homemade Pizza
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

If you want to make a plain (not whole-wheat) pizza dough, simply use 3 cups of all-purpose flour. The dough may not need as much water (as whole-wheat flour absorbs more moisture than all-purpose) and may not need as much time to rise, so adjust accordingly. You can use dry active yeast instead of instant yeast. Simply use the same amount of yeast but add lukewarm water (about 105 to 110 degrees F) to the dry ingredients.

Yield: enough dough for 2 medium-sized thin crust pizzas

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Cornmeal, for dusting
2 recipes of pizza toppings (see two variations below)

Mix flours, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil and mix until just combined and the dough is shaggy. Pour the dough onto a well-floured surface (I used a large Silpat baking mat) and knead, folding the dough into itself, until the dough is smooth, about 2 to 4 minutes. Form the dough into a ball.

Pizza dough before the rising period

Spray the bowl you mixed the dough in with non-stick baking spray (or drizzle with olive oil). Add the ball of dough to the bowl and coat with the oil. Cover the bowl with a layer of plastic wrap and allow to rise in a draft-free space for about 90 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.

 Pizza dough after the rising period 

Pizza dough after being shaped into two balls

Once the dough has doubled in size, preheat a baking stone (or an overturned sheet pan) in the oven to 500 degrees F. Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hand. Take half of the dough and pat it into a round with your hands. Using your fingertips, poke dimples into the dough, slowly pushing the dough outward. Once the dough is about 8 inches in diameter, begin to gently stretch the dough thinner. Placing one hand in the center of the round, use your other hand to stretch the dough outward. Turn the dough as you go to evenly stretch the dough.

When the dough is stretched very thin (about 1/8 inch thick), dust a pizza peel or a sheet of parchment with cornmeal. Carefully transfer the dough round to the peel or parchment and add the toppings.

Once the toppings are added, transfer the dough to the oven. If the dough is on a pizza peel, slide the dough onto the baking stone or overturned pan by quickly jerking the peel forward and then pulling it back. If the dough is on a sheet of parchment, simply transfer the parchment to the baking stone or slide the dough off of the parchment and onto the stone.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden and crisp and the toppings are bubbly and delicious.

Carefully remove the pizza from the oven and allow to cool for a minute or two before cutting into slices, serving, and devouring.

Romana Pizza Topping
Inspired by Mario Batali's Molto Gusto

It's important to use fresh mozzarella here and not the the low-moisture, pre-shredded stuff, which won't melt as well and taste as creamy as the fresh kind. Anchovies often get a bad rap for being overly fishy and salty, but the heat of the oven really transforms them. Here, they are not fishy at all but subtly salty and savory; in a word: awesome. However, if you're still worried about an unwelcome fishiness in your pizza, white anchovies are much more mild than the more common brown anchovies, and you may find that they are less offensive to you. The capers add a welcome brininess that complements the creamy cheese and slightly sweet tomato sauce. If you have a favorite pizza sauce, feel free to use 1 cup of that. 

Yield: enough topping for 1 pizza

About 1 cup canned tomato sauce
2 teaspoons dried Italian herb blend (or a mixture of dried basil, thyme, and oregano)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
About ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
8 anchovy fillets, rinsed
2 tablespoons capers, drained

In a small bowl, combine tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon of the dried herbs, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the tomato sauce onto the pizza dough, spreading it out in an even layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Tear the cheese into medium-sized pieces and distribute it in an even layer on top of the sauce. Arrange the anchovies on top of the cheese, making sure to distribute them evenly (I placed whole fillets in the center then put smaller pieces around the edges). Distribute the capers evenly on top of the pizza. Finally, sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of dried herbs evenly over the pizza.

The finished product: pure deliciousness

Caramelized Onion and Fig Pizza Topping

Although this topping has several components, all of the elements are easy to prepare. In this recipe, I use my favorite way to caramelize onions, which uses no oil or sugar (I promise you don't need it!). You can make the caramelized onions ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator for several days. The measurements in this topping are not exact. If you want a sweeter or  cheesier pizza, for example, add more of the fig jam and mascarpone cheese. Instead of mascarpone cheese, a creamy cheese like Fontina, Brie, or Gruyere would also be incredibly delicious.

Yield: enough topping for 1 pizza

1/2 large onion, sliced into half-inch rounds 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 to 3 tablespoons fig jam
3 to 4 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the onions in an even layer. Leave the onions alone for about a minute, until they begin to slightly brown around the edges and stick to the pan. They'll begin to get sticky. Season them liberally with salt and pepper and stir with a spatula. After another minute or so, you'll begin to see a brown film develop on the bottom of the pan (these are the sugars from the onion). Add a few tablespoons of water and scrape the bottom of the pan to release the browned bits. The onions should begin to take on a golden brown color. Continue stirring until all the browned bits have been released from the pan.

Again, leave the onions alone for a few minutes, until they start to stick to the pan and more browned bits develop on the bottom of the pan. Add more water as before. Continue this process as necessary -- adding more water, scraping, and leaving the onions alone -- until the onions are soft, deeply brown, and sweet. It could take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes longer. When the onions are fully caramelized, transfer them to a bowl and either store in the refrigerator for up to a week or use on the pizza immediately.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the balsamic vinegar over medium-low heat until it has reduced to about 2 tablespoons and is thick and syrupy. Reduce the heat to low and set aside until you are ready to top the pizza.

To top the pizza, spread the dough with the caramelized onions in an even layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Next, dot the pizza with the fig jam and mascarpone cheese. Drizzle the balsamic syrup evenly over the pizza. Finally, sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the top.

The finished product: sweet and savory pizza heaven

Summer Salad with Stone Fruits and Tomato Vinaigrette

One of my favorite things about summer (besides being able to wake up at 10 every morning) is stone fruits. And while this isn't a post about the wonderful sweet things I've done with the 49 cents-a-pound peaches we got this weekend (five whole pounds of them... and I thought we had a problem with zucchini), it is a post about my favorite way to enjoy them. (Actually, my favorite way to enjoy them is sliced plain, but that would make for a rather uneventful post.)

My mom and I both love salad and fruit. The combination of green leaves and sweet/tart fruit is a winning one. In the fall I like to add apples or sauteed pears, in the winter oranges are a great addition, and spring means strawberries. But come summer, the options are so much greater (and so much tastier). This particular rendition utilizes chopped peaches, plums, and nectarines. The peaches add sweetness, the plums contribute a slight tartness, and the nectarines manage to balance between the two extremes. Of course, I also love the variety that each brings to the salad.

But no salad would be complete or memorable without a truly delicious dressing. While I am the first to admit that I'm not too crazy about salad dressing (I'd just as soon eat a salad plain or with a drizzle of vinegar than make a dressing), this is my absolute favorite. My mom just sort of made it up one day, and I immediately began singing its (and her) praises. It is refreshingly tart, blending white wine vinegar with the natural acidity of tomatoes, and has a variation in texture because of the actual tomatoes and bounty of herbs it contains. But I think my favorite thing about this vinaigrette is the rosy hue that the tomato lends to it.

Truthfully, I could make a full meal out of a salad like this, and I often do, but it's perfect as a side to a lighter dinner or lunch, not to mention a fantastic antidote to the grueling summer heat.

Summer Salad with Stone Fruits and Tomato Vinaigrette

This vinaigrette recipe makes about a cup and a half of dressing. I prefer salad lightly dressed, so there is always leftover vinaigrette. It keeps very well in the refrigerator, covered, for about a week.

Yield: 4 servings

2 heads of Romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
1 plum, roughly chopped
1 nectarine, roughly chopped
1 peach, roughly chopped
1 beefsteak tomato (or about 2 Roma tomatoes)
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup mixed leafy herbs (such as basil, parsley, marjoram, chives, and mint), minced
Pinch of garlic powder (or 1 clove of minced garlic)
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Combine lettuce and stone fruits in a large bowl. Halve the tomato. Roughly chop one half and add to the bowl with the lettuce. Finely chop the other tomato and transfer to a jar (or other container), with juice. To jar, add olive oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, herbs, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Seal jar and shake to incorporate the ingredients. Just before serving, pour dressing over lettuce and toss to combine.

Bread Salad

I know "Bread Salad" is about as unglamorous a title for a dish as you can think of, but in our house, it always elicits excitement. But for those of you who want a fancier name, let me tell you about a dish that the Italians call "panzanella."

Thanks to my family's extreme fondness for vegetables year-round, as well as to the ingenious concept of wholesale food clubs, our house is rarely without the bread salad quartet of tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, and bread.

This recipe, like so many of our favorites, is inspired by Ina Garten. As we've made the salad countless times in the past year or so (why we never decided to make it before, I have no idea), we have of course made a few modifications from Ina's original recipe.

Usually the process goes something like this:

"You know we have all the stuff to make bread salad, right?" I'll tell my mom nonchalantly. She'll nod, and we'll agree to make it for tomorrow's dinner. The better for me to mentally prepare myself for the deliciousness.

At around 7:30, I'll come downstairs and wash the vegetables. Two large tomatoes (we usually have beefsteak, but five or six Roma tomatoes would be fine, as well.), one whole English cucumber, and two bell peppers are about right. Then I'll dice up five or six slices of bread (my favorite is whole wheat).

Usually right about now my mom, inevitably knitting at the kitchen table, will chime in with "Can I do anything to help?" Now, while I strangely enjoy chopping vegetables and those kinds of menial prepwork tasks, I really can't stand to wash and dry greens and make salad dressing. So I let my mom do my leftover tasks, and she is always happy to do so (plus I am convinced that she makes amazing salad dressing, which is just as important a component in this dish as the bread and vegetables).

The whole meal comes together very quickly. I always toast the bread in the oven (rather than in a skillet on the stove), and I sprinkle it with salt and pepper to make sure it's seasoned well. While the bread toasts, the vegetables are sitting happily in a huge (and I mean huge - way too big for just my mom and me) salad bowl, soaking up all that delicious vinaigrette. Once the bread is toasted, it goes straight into the bowl, and the warm cubes of bread readily absorb the dressing, too.

And, finally, a shout-out to the behind-the-scenes star of this dish, the capers, which at first glance can seem insignificant. After all, how can such a tiny berry make that great a difference in this sea of vegetables and bread? But they add a welcome brininess to the salad and a little pop of acidity that wonderfully complements the sweetness of the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. I say it almost every time we make this salad, and I'll say it again: the capers make the bread salad.

And even though this dish is redolent of summer's bounty and bursting with bright colors, it is secretly dangerous. If you're not paying attention, you will quickly find yourself four bowls deep, wondering to yourself where all that bread salad went. I've found this out the hard way, because we used to place the bowl right on the table, where it would practically call out to you. The last time we made this, I made the wise decision to leave the bowl in the kitchen, away from view. Somehow, we ended up with leftovers, but, of course, those were quickly devoured, too.
Bread Salad

Adapted from Ina Garten

If you like, you can also add half of a diced red onion (or sweet onion) to this salad. The onion adds a nice crunch and pungency. I like to soak the red onion in some cold water for about 10 minutes, which can mitigate that "Whoa, raw onion!" heat. But if you're not into raw onion, the salad will be no less delicious without it.

Yield: 4 servings

2 large beefsteak tomatoes (or 5 to 6 Roma tomatoes)
1 large English cucumber
2 bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow but not green)
5 or 6 slices of hearty bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons champagne or white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
2 tablespoons choppped fresh herbs (preferably basil but a mixture of leafy green herbs like parsley, mint, or chives with the basil also works)
3 heaping tablespoons capers
Enough lettuce greans for four (about two heads of romaine or 4 cups of greens)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil.

Cut the tomatoes, cucumber, and bell peppers into about 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a large salad bowl.

Place the bread on the baking sheet and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toast the bread until golden brown and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

While the bread is toasting, make the dressing. Combine the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, garlic and herbs in a jar or container. Seal the jar or container and shake vigorously to mix the dressing. Pour the dressing over the vegetables to coat (you may have extra; save some for salad later). Add the capers and toss the vegetables to distribute the dressing evenly throughout. Add the toasted bread to the salad and toss again to distribute the bread, making sure that the bread is coated with dressing.

To serve, place a handful of greens in a bowl and top with as much bread salad as you like.