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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Sicilian-style square pizza



I love Pizza. America loves Pizza. The Whole world loves pizza, but most of us would be damned to know how to make it ourselvs. For the 20 or 30 bucks spend on delivered pizza one could make upwards of 7 or 8 homemade pizzas. Roll up your sleeves and check out how to make one of my favite pizzas styles.

First and foremost you need to make dough. It is incredibly simple and one must procure minimal ingredients.

(This recipe makes 2 nice dough balls)
120z warm water
instant yeast
1Tblespoon sugar
1Teaspoon salt
drizzle olive oil
4 cups AP or HG flour (plus more for kneading and work surface)

Bloom yeast in water, add dry ingredients into mixer.
mix 6-7 minutes, slowly adding additional flour, until nice dough ball is formed. It should be completely pulled away from the side walls.
Cover and let rest 1 to 2 hours


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You need:
A nice seasoned square pizza pan.

To Assemble:
Season all sides of pizza pan generously with olive oil.

Roll out dough with rolling pin into nice sqaure shape



Form the dough around the pan making shure not to rip dough.




Next you are going to leave this sit for up to 4 or 5 hours, allowing sufficient time for the dough to rise in the pan. This is very important for it insures a light, crispy, bread-like crust.

To Cook:
Season dough with olive oil and bake in a medium-hot oven for 6 or 7 minutes
Add sauce, cheese, and any toppings
bake another 10-18 minutes or untill cheese is bubly and golden and crust is browned.

Let rest 12 minutes before removing from pan and slicing



Pizza Tips
-Always use fresh grated cheese; better texture. Try experimenting with blends such as mozzarella, parmesan, pecorino, locatelli etc
-I like to make very simple tomato sauce with minimal prep, but canned works just as good in a pinch
-Double or even triple dough recipe- it freezes and defrosts wonderfully
-Use scrap dough to make "garlic knots"
-Think twice next time you want to order out, nothing beats the satisfaction of homemade food, it's interactive and fun, and after a few times you will begin to develop your own style of pizza, unique to only you!



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