Make and Bake

Last weekend we took a trip up to the sweet North Bay town of Petaluma and had brunch with some good friends at a restaurant called Luma out in the riverfront boondocks by the Cowgirl Creamery warehouse. Adam had their Green Eggs& Ham pizza made with arugula, prosciutto and a fresh farm egg.  Does anyone else love the trend in adding a fresh farm egg to things? We liked it so much we were inspired to recreate it tonight in honor of Dr. Suess's Birthday.

Here's my go-to recipe for pizza dough.  It's so easy. Don't get that grocery store dough in a bag. You can do this.

In a medium mixing bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar in 1 1/2 cups of very warm water (110 degrees). Whisk in 1 package of active dry yeast and allow to sit for 5 minutes.  See picture above. Stir in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Using a Kitchen Aid style mixer with the dough hook blend 4 cups, plus 1/4 cup as needed of AP flour with a tablespoon of sea salt.  Add the yeast mixture, blending on a lower speed for about one minute. Gradually add in remaining 1/4 cup of flour until soft, but not sticky in texture. Increase speed to medium high and work the dough for about 3 more minutes, until it goes from crumby and dry to an elastic texture. I bet you could do this in a food processor, and I know it could be done by hand, it just means you need to put some elbow grease into it.

Place the dough in a mixing bowl greased with olive oil, cover with a cotton dishtowel for one hour.  You will know the dough is ready to work with when it has doubled in size and when pressed down, the dough does not reconstitute.  You can use immediately or refrigerate for use later in the day, or freeze for up to a month. 

I bake my pizzas on a stone or in a cast iron skillet at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.