Several weeks ago I made a new sourdough starter that I want to use for pizza dough. Well, last week, I decided to give it a test run and see how it tasted. Even though we didn't have the ingredients available for the type of pizza I wanted to make; even though we don't have a pizza stone; even though we don't have a pizza peel (fancy name for a spatula on steroids), my impatience won the battle and I went ahead and made one anyway.
As you can see from the picture, I won't have to worry about Domino's begging me to come work for them any time soon, but even though it looks like an extra from the 1950's classic The Blob, I'm told it still tasted good. Now, since this was the first time I used this starter, there was not going to be a lot of extra dough to play with, so I went ahead and made two smaller ones. The one on the right was for my daughters and the one on the left was for my wife.
My daughters' pizza was just a simple cheese pizza. I took their crust and brushed it with olive oil and then layered-on the cheese. For my wife's pizza, I went to the freezer and defrosted some of the tomato sauce I made last year and spooned that on the crust. I then took some vegetarian sausage that she got (we had a free coupon for it) and put that on the pizza. Then a slice of American cheese torn-up and placed around the top. Any exposed crust was then brushed with olive oil.
These little beauties were then covered and stored in the refrigerator until about one hour before cooking time. At cooking time, I set the oven to 450° and cooked them about 15 minutes. I then served the pizza and went into the next room and did our taxes (fun times, huh?). Anyway, when I came out an hour later, I expected to find leftover crusts, because my daughters NEVER eat the crust; they always pawn them off on my wife, but this time they ate them...go figure.
Taking another quick look at the picture, you can see that I need to do a lot of work on my dough rolling and shaping, but I guess that will come with practice...and I intend to practice a lot.
I'm impressed! I've made pizzas with homemade crust but cheated and used the bread machine. Sourdough crust sounds yummy!
ReplyDeleteSniffie and the Florida Furkids (and Mom Sharon)
Looks and sounds yummy. Now I'm hungry for pizza. ;o)
ReplyDeleteOkay, I had to giggle at the shape of them but with pizza, it doesn't matter what they look like since it's all good! My husband rolls out the dough to the thickness he wants and then cuts it into a circle using a pizza pan as the guide. He makes his dough from wheat flour too so it's healthy.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, taxes are fun!
yumm, pizza. homemade pizza even better. Sounds like you had a winner there if they didn't even leave the crusts. Around here, the dog usually gets that part.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't have to look perfect to be good! I haven't tried making my own dough yet. Earl and I were talking about that at dinner. I think my first people will be a Hawaiian pizza.
ReplyDeleteMine rarely look perfect, either, but they taste good. You're going to end up with pizza night each week too! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you... practice makes perfect. Keep practicing and eventually you will be an expert on pizza dough. thanks for sharing.
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ReplyDeleteFurkidsmom: Thank you, my wife and kids seem to really enjoy it and it smells great when baking.
ReplyDeleteSplit Rock Ranch: Me too!
BeadedTail: Thank you for the idea, I hadn't thought of doing that. That will make it a lot easier to do.
Luckily, I only have to do it once. Best of luck with this tax season!
Ann: Thank you. I think if they had the chance, our cats would be happy to adopt that role :)
a49erfangirl: That's a great idea, I'd love to try a Hawaiian pizza.
Storm, The Psychotic Housewife: That sounds like a plan to me :)
Ruthi: I plan to do a lot of practicing :) Actually, I made another one tonight, but this one was rectangular. Eventually, I'll get it in a circle.
they look good. Pizza is not always round. In Italy it comes in all different shapes. I remember in Europe my first pizza I ordered was square,lol.
ReplyDeletethe taste is what matters. Good for you to trying sour dough pizza. I find when using the kind of bread base. Cook the dough for about 10 to 15 minutes first then add the topping and continues to cook the remainder time.
Auntie E: Thank you for that tip. I had a problem with the dough not cooking through, so I'll give this a try. It's kind of like "blind baking" a pie crust. I also found (through another mistake) that if the cheese is too finely shredded, it will burn rather than just melt.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the tip!