Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Pizza!!!

Would you like red salsa or green salsa Wyatt? Hmm.... a chubby finger pointed to the bottle of green on his morning eggs and red on his taco soup for lunch. Yes, my almost 22month old son ADORES salsa! In fact at Mexican restaurants he gets his own bowl and if I am lax in giving him chips, then he scoops it up with his hands! I am not making this up. He even eats the hot stuff with shifts of gulping water! His other favorite toppings are honey and ketchup. He hates ranch dressing, which I think is weird. I still mash steamed broccoli or chopped up raw spinach with his peanut butter sandwiches. I know it sounds gross, but it's the only way I can get some green veggies in there....and he actually likes it! He ate roasted carrot sticks made to look like french fries on Friday. He hates carrots, so I got pretty excited! Tonight we are having homemade pizza, which I think is a family favorite around here. We have 3 versions: thin Jiffy crust (for those nights with no time...and it's really good and crispy), regular (with a touch of wheat) and then Chicago-style deepdish. Tonight is a regular night. There is nothing regular about it, though, it's fantastically delicious!! It requires hanging out at home for 3 hrs before cooking. It's not hard, there are just spaced out steps b/c the dough has to rise.
I got the recipe from "Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates" Here's my version. Oh and this makes 4 pizzas, so I either half it or freeze 2 of the balls.

Yeast Mixture:
3 cups hot water(100 to 115 degrees)
1 TBS Active Dry yeast
2TBS flour
2TBS honey
Stir these together and let rest 5 to 10 min until creamy looking

Dough: In large bowl combine
4 1/2cups unbleached white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 TBS salt
stir well

add yeast mixture and stir 1 to 2 min until uniformaly moist and can be formed into ball
Lightly flour countertop/hands and knead for 5 to 8 minutes (this is when you want to put on the Baby Einstein video)
Dough will be soft and slightly sticky
When you have a smooth ball then place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap
Put in a warm, draft-free place until double in size, about 1 hour
1 hour later( or longer if you need to), Preheat oven to 500 degrees
Lightly flour counter, punch down dough and knead for 1 to 2 minutes
Divide into 4 equal balls
If you want to freeze a ball for later, then put in a ziplock baggy by itself
Lightly oil your pans and work into an 8" wide crust.
I use a small can of Hunt's tomato sauce for 1 to 2 pizzas depending how saucy you want it.
Top with toppings (I'll be using thinly sliced onions, bell pepper, pepperoni, mushrooms and fresh spinach).
Top with motzerella and sprinkle of parmesan cheese
cook 8 to 10 minutes or until no longer doughy in center.
Let sit at least 5 minutes before cutting.
YUM!

5 comments:

LeeAnn said...

I have recently been on a search for a great pizza crust recipe to make here at home. I tried one that was ok but I look forward to trying yours!!!

Tyne said...

He likes salsa? Hmmmm.... wonder where he got that? Such a momma's boy!

I do hot-n-ready pizza at our house, probably terrible for you, but you drive through Little Caesar's and they give you a large pepperoni right away for 6 bucks.

Vashey Fam said...

I think I would do that too if I had 3 under 4 and one on the way!

The Rowland Crew said...

Levi was just like Wyatt with the salsa at Wyatt's age. He often skipped the chips and went straight for the salsa. One time when we were at a restaurant and we weren't watching closely enough, he pulled a straw out of a drink and was trying to drink it. So, beware of straws around salsa!

Vashey Fam said...

Hilarious!!