2Lemke's Recipe

I'm at my parent's house in Utah now. My mom just got a new computer screen that is really wide and stretches all the pictures to be really wide too. So, looking at pictures on the blog is a little less than flattering. I hope my short/wide proportions are not really like that.

Here is the pizza recipe:

CLASSIC PIZZA DOUGH

1 package dry yeast                   2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup lukewarm water      3 cups unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon sugar 1 ½ teaspoons salt

¾ cup cold milk

Pour yeast and sugar over warm water in a mixer bowl and let sit for a few minutes.  Add the milk and mix well.  Add dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together.  Add a few drops of milk if necessary to make a soft dough.  Knead dough 4 minutes on medium speed; let it rest for 2 minutes and knead one more minute.  Let dough rise in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap about 1 ½ hours until double in bulk.

Pizza Tips:  Try to stretch the dough by hand.  Dough can be mixed by hand, in a mixer or a breadmaker.  Place the four unglazed quarry tiles in the oven on the center rack.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for 45 minutes.  Sprinkle the paddle with cornmeal and make the pizza on the paddle.  Brush the dough slightly with olive oil before adding any toppings.  Slide the pizza off the paddle directly on to the tiles.  Bake for about 5 minutes or until toppings are bubbly.  Slide paddle under pizza and remove form oven.

Dough can be made ahead; let rise and refrigerate until ready to use.  Bring dough to room temperature before using.

Suggested Toppings: olives, feat, pesto, parmesan, sun dried tomatoes, provolone, roasted chicken, roasted bell pepper, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, sausage, ham, pepperoni, fresh garlic.

2 favorite combos:

*pesto, artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella, and sausage or ham.

* tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and sliced tomato.

Usually I just clean out the fridge and put whatever I can on the pizzas! 

Happy eating!