Recipe: Pizza Margherita

Pizza Margherita
Adapted from the Houston Chronicle by Ken Blair

This pizza is baked on the bottom of the oven and has a very thin, crisp crust. No pizza sauce is used. You can be eating after two hours if you do everything right! The "dough" part of the recipe makes enough for two 10 inch pizzas, and freezes very well.

Dough:

1 cup warm/hot water
1 packet of yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping for one pizza (half of the dough):

1/2 ripe tomato - thinly sliced (1/16th of an inch, if possible)
2 teaspoons basil
1 clove garlic - minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 oz mozzarella - grated
salt/pepper to taste

Procedure:

Start the yeast: Put water, yeast, and sugar in mixing bowl and let sit for 4 or 5 minutes in the dark.

When the yeast mixture is foamy, add the oil, salt, wheat flour, and half of the white flour. Knead dough and work in remaining flour. Keep kneading until dough is elastic.

Divide dough into two equal parts. Use one now, and freeze the other (if wanted).

Place dough in clean bowl and cover with damp cloth. Place in a dark warm place, and let dough rise until it has doubled in size. This is usually about an hour.

"Punch" down dough, being careful to leave it in its round shape. Let dough rest for 5 minutes. Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Be sure to leave dough in its round shape, as this will help you create a round pizza and not an obscure shaped one that looks like you don't know what you're doing.

Working from the inside out, press the dough down and gradually flatten out the whole deal so it looks like a pizza crust. Make it pretty thin, and if you get a spot that's too thin, pinch some dough off of the edge and fix the thin spot. You can either make a crust on the perimeter or leave it flat. Restaurants do it both ways.

Toppings: Take olive oil and spread over crust. Next, take tomatoes and arrange on crust. Then, put on garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and cheese.

Baking: If you have a gas oven, stick the pizza (on the cookie sheet) right on the bottom of the oven. If you have an electric, put a rack in the lowest position and bake there. Don't preheat the oven, just set the thermostat on about 450 degrees F and bake for 10 - 15 minutes. Be sure you don't burn the bottom. That's all.

Notes:
For a thicker crust, let the crust rise for 30 minutes (or so) after you've formed it.

You can easily add other toppings, just be sure not to add too much bulk or the pizza won't hold up. Two minced jalapenos and cheddar cheese make a nice pizza, in addition to the other toppings (minus mozzarella). 3) Baking can be difficult- try different times and temperatures. Sometimes a two stage baking can be good- start it on the bottom, and move it to the middle of the oven after 10 minutes to brown the cheese. Putting several bricks on the bottom of the gas oven helps to distribute the heat more evenly, while still giving you the desired crispy crust effect.