Mama Mia Pizza!

I love pretending that I live in another country.  My options are always vast when I pretend! Sometimes it is a French countryside, sometimes a German local pub, and this particular day, I was inspired and cooking in an Italian bistro.  As you know, our garden is booming with fresh herbs and produce.  Our basil plant, in particular, is growing like it is on steroids.  So I had the idea to make a "grandma" style Italian pizza. 

There is no real recipe here.  I made the pizza dough from one of my earlier posts and bought Harris Teeter (shameless plug :) ) pizza sauce.  I also bought a ball of mozzarella (probably could have used two) and used the basil from my garden.  This was obviously a meatless version, but some crumbled Italian sausage or maybe some grilled chicken would be so delicious as well!  For the sake of saving you the time of flipping back and forth between posts, here is the pizza dough recipe!

 

Pizza Dough (via browneyedbaker.com):

1/2 cup warm water

 1 envelope (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast

 1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature

 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

 4 cups (22 ounces) bread flour, plus more for dusting work surface and hands

 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

 Olive oil or nonstick cooking spray for oiling the bowl

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room-temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

2. Process the flour and salt in a large food processor, pulsing to combine. Continue pulsing while pouring the liquid ingredients (holding back a few tablespoons) through the feed tube. If the dough does not readily form into a ball, add the remaining liquid and continue to pulse until a ball forms. Process until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 30 seconds longer.

3. The dough will be a bit tacky, so use a rubber spatula to turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead by h and for a few strokes to form a smooth, round ball. Put the dough into a deep oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

How to make Pizza Dough Kneaded by Hand

 Follow the recipe for Pizza Dough through step 1. Omit step 2 and instead combine the salt and half the flour in a deep bowl. Add the liquid ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine. Add the remaining flour, stirring until a cohesive mass forms. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic 7 to 8 minutes, using as little dusting flour as possible while kneading. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and proceed with the recipe.

The easiest way to cut slivers of basil is to take a few leaves and roll them up together and use a sharp chopping knife to "slice" the roll up into pieces.  I also cut the ball of mozzarella into slices.  So I lay the pizza out on the pizza stone, slather on the pizza sauce, lay on the mozzarella slices, sprinkle on the mozzarella slivers, and sprinkle a little bit of "Italian seasoning" (I cheat and buy McCormicks).

Bake the pizza at 500 degrees for 8-12 minutes.