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Easy Pizza Dough: Perfect every time

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We love making pizza around here, but it’s always the pizza dough that can be such a hang up. For many people there can be a bit of anxiety when it comes to anything yeast made, and with all the kneading and mess making, it’s a total drag when it’s not quite right.

It’s funny that so much fuss can be made over pizza dough. It’s all so simple really, what are we talking about? Flour, water, salt and yeast- maybe a little oil. It’s the same recipe world over, but with a bizillion different outcomes. It’s incredible how with the same ingredients one crust can be chewy, another lofty and light-and another plain old flat and dead like a tough tile- and they all start from the same place.

Years ago I read Peter Reinhart’s book, American Pie, in which he delves into nuanced detail of the world of pizza making. He takes it so far as to go on a worldwide search to find the perfect crust and balance of sauce and cheese. It’s an incredible read for the foodie that can relate to the ultimate search. It also put Naples high on my lists of places in the world to visit- and solely for the pizza.

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Of course there are great arguments as to what constitutes the “best” pizza. In Italy you can get into real Hatfield and McCoy arguments over such things. Me- I prefer a chewy crust with a crunch, more towards the thinner side, and not too oozy with cheese. But then there are the days that I like the olive oily thicker crust with texture and density. It’s all so good really, how could you draw lines?  Though I can tell you this- dry, cracker like crust is not my thang. This I know- and it has to have salt. I dread the hard, blah, plank. Pluh!

But what I really wanted to share with you here is a super easy, and in my experience, fool proof method of making a yummy crust- AND how to get a nice crunchy crust without having to pull a muscle dragging out the pizza stone.

If you’ve read my past post on No Knead Bread, you should know by now that I all about the concept of not kneading my breads to death (or burning out my KitchenAid…). Yeah, this is going to take a little forethought, but work with me here- it’ll be worth it.

I start by preparing the dough the night before using the no knead method with a little extra flour to give it density. This means that in the midst of my dinner making, I simply pull down a bowl, combine the ingredients and then set them aside until the following morning.  I’m already in the midst of making a mess, so no big deal.

After leaving it on the counter over night, in the morning I stick the dough in the fridge until I’m ready for it that evening. The cold slows down the rising and keeps it in a holding pattern until I am ready for it.

pizza dough recipe

 

The wonderful thing about refrigerated dough is, should decide I that I don’t feel like pizza that night, I just punch it down a bit and cover it back up until the next day- in fact- that makes and even BETTER crust.

When I am ready for it, I simply remove the pizza dough from the fridge, divide it into equal sections, and while it’s still cool pat out the rounds. Then I pile them up with my favorite cheeses, vegetables and meats and then turn on the oven. I let the oven take a good 30 mins to warm up and so will the dough.

Getting a crispy crust to me is the supreme goal when making pizza. I tried using terra cotta tiles from HomeDepot, which worked wonderfully until they started to crack. No detriment to the pizza, but even after cobbling them back together a few times, eventually they had to be tossed. Instead I rely on either my cast iron frying pan or my cast iron grill pan. The heat conduction in the iron is great- it doesn’t have the water drawing out capabilities of stone, but it’s close enough for the midweek pizza night.

Of course this will limit the size of the pie- but I prefer handling personal sized pies anyway- more room for creativity, and less wieldy getting them in and out of the oven.

Enjoy! 

Until the next time…

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Coconut Chocolate Tart

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This different coconut tart recipe has an interesting texture from a dense layer of chocolate truffle on the bottom, light coconut cream in the middle and crunchy toasted coconut on top. It’s a creation that I had originally come up with for a luncheon I was attending. I fine tuned it for the week’s holiday meal with my family, and it’s a perfect addition to your Easter Dinner table.

Thanks to my Aunt Josephine, who was the inspiration for my starting this blog, I have a wonderfully diverse family. Her second husband Ed, had three children of his own, and along with them came their Jewish heritage and traditions. None of us are particularly religious, but we certainly have made the most of the holidays. Really it’s any excuse to gather around long tables, and indulge in delicious foods.

We celebrated this year at the home of my Cousin Patty and her intended Jay. Last year we celebrated “East-over” since the two holidays were right on top of each other. This year it was “Pre-Passover” since we gathered on Sunday, the day before the official start of passover. So you can see that we don’t hold too closely to the the rules. However, it should be shared that we did all read through the Seder stories, dipped parsley into salted water, ate our share of charoset and hid the afikomen. All the “kids” are well into legal adulthood, but the chase to find the hidden matzoh caused quite the ruckus.  The whole day was filled with love and laugher and ease and family, for which I feel blessed.

Both sides of my family are chock full of foodies, both professionally and non, which makes these get togethers tremendous fun and ridiculously delicious. For instance, my “soon to be official” Cousin Scott, is presently working on a new restaurant in Hudson, NY called Fish & Game, which is opening in a few weeks. The restaurant is focused on locally sourced ingredients, and the menu incorporates a nose-to-tail approach to the animals procured. Listening to him talk about the build out of the kitchen and the research involved in finding local, organic and biodynamic wines, is what keeps us perched at the dinner table. I can tell you it all sounds (and looks) incredible. {I promise you that once they are open I’ll be taken a drive up there to dine- then I’ll be back to tell you about it.}

As an ex-baker it’s not surprising that I choose to make dessert for my contribution, but I rarely opt for a layer cake. I mean, after cracking about a gazillion eggs in my life it’s far more appealing to turn flour, butter and sugar into other sweet treats- hence this tart.

When I started to think about this dessert my criteria was to have something somewhat decadent, but not too over the top- because believe it or not, summer IS coming and the time has come to shed one’s, shall we say… winter coat(ing). Nonetheless, I wanted something tasty, not leavened, pretty and different.

The tart gets most of it’s sweetness from the crust and the chocolate. The filling and coconut topping are much lower in sugar which is a very interesting taste sensation when you eat it. So many things happen in your mouth. Gritty graham cracker crust, dense sweet chocolate, delicate soft coconut cream with a slight crunch of aromatic coconut at the end.

To be honest it’s a little time consuming to make since it’s made in stages- but there is no great pastry skill involved here- so plan ahead and give it a whirl.

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Chocolate Coconut Tart

Each layer of this tart is prepared in stages. The total time is about 2 hours. If you prefer you can make the crust and chocolate layer ahead of time and finish the cream filling later.

makes one 9″ tart that serves 8-10, or 4 4″ tartlets

12 sheets graham crackers

.75cup of sugar

6 T melted butter

pinch of salt

8oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

.75c heavy cream

2c lite coconut milk, unsweetened (not cream)about a can and a half

3T sugar

1.5 T unflavored gelatin

6 T cool water

1c shredded, unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350˚ 

In a food processor, pulse the crackers to a rough crumb, add the sugar, butter and salt and process to a damp sandy mixture.

Spoon the mixture into your preferred tart pans and press firmly and evenly. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until browned. Remove and set aside.

While the shell is baking prepare the chocolate ganache. Place the chopped chocolate into a medium sized bowl. Warm the cream until it’s hot but not boiling- microwave is fine- about 45 seconds.

Combine the cream with the chocolate and stir smooth. This is thinner than a traditional ganache so that it won’t be too stiff in the chilled tart.

When the shell is cooled, pour the chocolate into the bottom and spread evenly. Important* place the chocolate laced shell into the freezer and chill well. About 15 minutes, the colder the better.

To prepare the coconut filling, reserve .5 cup of coconut milk in a heatproof bowl. In a separate small bowl combine the water and the gelatin and combine well. Let the gel sit for 3 minutes to bloom. Meanwhile warm the remaining coconut milk and stir in the sugar until dissolved. 

Scoop the gelatin into the reserved coconut milk and warm until the gelatin is melted but not boiling. Then stir into the warm milk/sugar mixture.

Carefully pour the milky mixture into the tart shell. It will be very soupy and may soak the crust. Don’t worry about that, it will be fine, I promise.

Carefully place into the fridge until the filling is set, about an hour, maybe more, depending on how cool your fridge is.

To finish, toast the coconut in a dry skillet, then spoon over the tart.

Keep the tart cold until ready to serve.

Radish Butter on Homemade Rye Rounds

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It’s the late afternoon. Before the wine time, before we bathe and dress and head out to meet friends for dinner. It’s the afternoon respite, when the day’s whirl and swirl of energy has slowed to a breathless ease. It’s the afternoon sit down.

Earlier in the day flour dust rose and settled as I prepared the rye bread dough and shaped it into two logs. The smell of caraway seeds filled the kitchen, and the homey smell of bread straight out of the oven is the now the familiar. It’s so easy to make, so easy to create a masterpiece out of such simple ingredients- it no longer makes sense to do anything else.*

We don’t eat much butter these days. The demon “saturated fat” lurks within and I shun it at every possible turn, but from time to time, there something so simply wonderful as butter on bread. It is a taste so crazy good and so elemental, that it makes me laugh. Because I eat butter so rarely, I can experience a wide open happiness. That’s a really good feeling.

As a kid I remember reading books such as Heidi, where thick slices of wheaty homemade bread were slathered with butter. This was the staple, the basis of existence, the staff of life-the safe place of home.

I go back to that romantic place here.

The combination of radishes with butter and salt is another classic. If you’ve not tried it, please do. The sharp spice of the radish is tamed by the butter, and at the same time brightened by the salt. Typically radishes are sliced into paper thin wisps, then planked on top. For my table I’ve diced and mashed them right into the sweet butter. So simple. So good. A sprinkling of Maldon salt on top and you are complete.

A delightful afternoon snack.

Of simple.

And quiet goodness.

*The recipe for basic no knead bread is found HERE. To make rye, I replaced 1 cup of the white flour with dark rye, and added 2T of caraway seeds. When it came time to shape the bread I divided the dough in two and created two long thin loaves- as long as my oval pot would hold, and then baked them separately.