Pizza

I am not a huge fan of pizza. It doesn't mean that I don't like it, but I wouldn't kill for a slice of Dominos or Pizza Hut. To be honest, I don't enjoy ordering, waiting, and getting room temperature pizza at my door, AND having to tip for it! Yes, I sound cheap, but only because I am.

So the other day I was driving, singing along with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and it occured to me: make your own pizza! And so I did. I started with the dough, which, of course, is necessary for the crust. I bought some bread flour at New Seasons, threw that in my breadmaker. Then I added a couple of table spoons of wheat gluten flour, salt, and yeast. Kneaded it all with some filtered water and put it an oiled glass bowl to rise. About 40 minutes later, I folded the dough. It felt so good: light, fluffy, yet strong and stretchy at the same time. In another 40 minutes, I folded it again. Then stretched it threw on some pizza sauce with fresh basil and garlic, shredded mozarella, roasted garlic, and some fresh yummy tomatoes.

While the dough is doing it's rising and developing gluten, I preheated my oven to 500F, which, by the way, is VERY hot (I learned that when I opened the oven door and accidentally brushed against the inside of the oven. So, don't stick your hands into a very hot oven.

When the pizza had it's toppings, in the oven it went. After the first 10 minutes of baking, I rotated it and let it sit there for another 10 minutes. It turned out amazing! The crust was light, with a gazillion of huge bubbles. It was stretchy and crusty at the same time!

I forgot to mention that if you attempt that at home, you should either clean your oven before heating it that hot, or disable your smoke detectors... Mine went off about 6 times, but, strangely enough, my neighbors didn't complain.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make a pizza at home.