California Classic Pizza

It's been a long week of continuing to get back in the swing of the upcoming semester with lots of planning meetings and long to-do lists. In combination with not having as many hours in a day to cook whatever I want and a couple of days of coming home with awful, awful headaches, my TNR for the week didn't begin until today with my first recipe of California Classic Pizza.

I have this amazing little thing called The Pizza Deck.  It's 50 recipes for homemade pizza in this cute little container that looks like a deck of cards.  So when I'd finished my recipes for last week, my roommies and I sat on the couch reading all of the different options and picked one.  Picking one was really hard as they all sounded really good, but California Classic Pizza it was.  Goat cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.  YUM!  I love all of those ingredients, plus I was excited to make my own dough, so I thought it couldn't go wrong.

I thought the pizza was a success and super yummy, so check out the recipe below.  Enjoy!  Next recipe "homemade granola." 

California Style Pizza Dough

The olive oil imparts a subtle flavor and richness to this dough, and the crust bakes up tender yet chewy.  For a crisper or thinner crust, substitute semolina or bread flour, punch down after rising and let rise again.

1 cup warm water (110 to 115⁰F)
2 ¼ teaspoons (1 packet or ¼ ounce) active dry yeast
3 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose, bread or semolina flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup Extra-virgin olive oil
olive oil for brushing crust and drizzling

Combine warm water and yeast in small bowl and stir to dissolve.

Combine 3 cups flour with salt in bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer.  Mix with flat beater at lowest speed for 10 seconds, then add yeast mixture and ¼ cup oil and mix 1 minute.  Replace beater with dough hook and knead at medium for 3 minutes.  Pinch off piece of dough.  If it feels too sticky, continue kneading while gradually adding just enough of remaining ¼ cup flour for dough to lose most of its stickiness.  If dry and crumbly, continue kneading the dough while gradually adding warm water, a tablespoon at a time, until it is no longer too dry.  Continue kneading dough, until smooth and elastic about 5 minutes total, then forma into a smooth ball. 

Brush large bowl with oil, add dough, and turn to coat all over with oil.  Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set in warm place until dough is doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 ½ hours; or refrigerate for up to 24 hours punching dough down 1 or 2 times during rise.

8 servings

California Classic Pizza

Combining the Golden State’s culinary “holy trinity” of goat cheese, roasted garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes atop pizza launched a new wave of American pizza baking.

1 large garlic head
Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing crust and drizzling
Salt
California-Style Pizza Dough, well risen
½ cup slivered, drained sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
2 cups shredded whole-milk semisoft mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 cup crumbled fresh or semidry mild goat cheese (about 4 ounces)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 ounce)

Cut off top one-fourth of garlic to expose cloves.  Peel away papery skin, leaving head intact.  Place in making dish, drizzle cut surfaces with oil, and sprinkle salt.  Cover with foil and bake at 350⁰F for 45 minutes, then uncover and roast until soft, about 15 minutes longer.

Stretch and shape dough as desired and place on oiled ventilated pan or pizza screen, or cornmeal-dusted pizza peel.  Brush dough all over with olive oil.  Squeeze roasted garlic from its skin onto dough and smear with a dull knife to spread, leaving ½ - inch border around edges.  Add tomatoes, then top with mozzarella and goat cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 500⁰F until crust is golden, about 10 minutes.

Remove pizza to wire rack and let stand for 2 minutes, then transfer to cutting tray or board and lightly brush crust edges with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.  Slice and serve hot.

8 servings