pizza.

i broke down and purchased a rolling pin from target yesterday, looks a lot like the link except heftier and only $5.99, target is crazy. i love that place. anyway, after said purchase i decided it was time to make pizza dough. the bonus is this puppy really can double as a weapon if someone tries to break in and steal my pizza pie!

so pizza love time. i love pizza, i mean really who doesn't? the love probably started in the womb, as bocces pizza was consumed by mommy, and will be consumed by the whole family at least once on the next trip to buffalo. preferably with olives, i'm just saying! anyway, pizza comes in all shapes, sizes, textures, flavors; sometimes too many in my opinion. i am not a bbq pizza fan or an anchovi pizza person, i also am adament about cheese, in thats its a mozerella/parmesan/italian combo. i love me so some extra sharp cheddar, brie, jalapeno monterrary jack, comte, etc, ad nauseum; everyone knows i love cheese. but those cheeses do NOT belong on pizza. i am what you would call a traditionalist about my pizza, in flavor and also about pizza maker, basically that it isn't me. making dough or really making dough with yeast scares me or at least it did until this brave adventure.

after looking for pizza dough recipes, i cheated and modified a smittenkitchen recipe because let's face it, she's pretty awesome.
mix together: 1.5 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon active yeast:
add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 cup warm water:

then dump out on floured surface and knead for about 2 minutes. kneading is sort of tricky, but try to just fold the dough over itself and use the heel of your hand. this video is pretty long, but you get the idea. i thought of doing a video, but couldnt find a good spot for the camera to capture me in the kneading moment.
after kneading, form into a ball. spray a bowl with cooking spray and add dough ball, coating with spray and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
now let your dough rest and take a little nap under your plastic for about 2 hours. you can take a nap now too if you want:) when you come back it should be doubled in size and have lots of little air bubbles.
take dough out of bowl and press out all the bubbles and knead about a minute. recover under plastic about 30-45 more minutes.
then roll dough out with your trusty new rolling pin and place on pizza pan
now preheat your oven to 500. yes, this is hot, but this heat will make your pizza dough a crusy mouth-watering goodness of love. trust in me people. while the oven was heating up, i gathered my toppings of choice for tonight's pizza:
toppings: salami, fresh mozerella, tomato sauce, red pepper flake, basil (surprise right?). i forgot the garlic:( and ps i added some salt, pepper, grating of parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil. sorry, sorry.
this baby baked up for about 12 minutes, but depending on your oven could be a bit longer or bit shorter to get this result of me dorking out:
we let it cool while we drooled. 2 minutes and a quick salad later it was plated and ready to be
experienced in all its glory:
ahhh yum! well worth the wait, but definitely one that much patience is required. make yourself a little snack as the dough does its thing.
enjoy:)