Wednesday, February 4, 2009

pizza.


I like recipes that my boys can make. They love to measure, pour, knead and bake. I particularly like recipes that use metric measurements and not only the US cups...not only is it more accurate for baking, but we can pull out the scale and the boys can set the scale to the correct measurement (g/oz) and then weigh each item themselves. They are learning about ounces and cups and grams and milliliters and pounds. They are learning the relative measurements and understanding the relationships between 250 grams of flour vs. 2 cups of flour. They are looking at the scale and comparing quantities on the recipe to the scale readout. Perfect.

Today we made pizza. We have been loving the recipes from the book "Baking Bread with Children" by Warren Lee Cohen. This pizza recipe fit the bill. It was quick and easy, and it had measurements listed in all of the above. The boys did all of the measuring, kneading and rolling. We only tweaked the recipe a bit using our favorite flours for pizza. Turned out great!


::pizza::

250g (2 cups) strong 00 Italian pizza flour (or strong white bread flour)
250g (2 cups) whole wheat pastry flour (recipe calls for 'plain' or pastry flour, I used whole wheat pastry)
15 ml (1 Tbsp) honey
10ml (2 tsp) sea salt
10ml (2 tsp) good yeast
300 ml (10 oz = about 1 1/4 cups) warm water (body temp or so)
45 ml (3 Tbsp) olive oil

pizza sauce, cheese and toppings.

In large bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the honey. Let it sit in a warm spot for about 10 minutes until it is bubbly and smells yeasty.

Add the salt, olive oil, and then slowly add in the flour. The dough will start to come together - it should still be slightly sticky to touch. You can use your hands for this part, or use a Kitchen Aid with a dough hook just to incorporate it.

Sprinkle some flour on your counter and hand knead the dough for about 10 minutes.


Oil a bowl with olive oil. Put the kneaded dough (ball) into the bowl and cover it with a moist towel - put in a warm spot. Let it rise for 1.5 - 2 hours until double in size.

Pull the dough out of the bowl and cut into two pieces (or 4 pieces if you want little individual pizzas).

Roll or stretch into a round or whatever shape you want and put onto a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal or semolina flour (to keep from sticking) ...

Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF.

Put on the sauce, toppings and cheese. Let the prepped pizzas sit and rise for 15 minutes while the oven pre-heats.

Bake for 7-15 minutes or so, depending on how thinly you rolled your dough...bake until golden and cheese bubbly.

Let cool a bit before slicing.



ingredient tip:

00 pizza flour is a high gluten finely ground flour. It is usually called Italian Tipo "00" flour. It looks like baby powder - it is a finer ground than normal flour, is high gluten, and it will give your dough an incredible super-smooth texture. I find it at the local Italian deli. I liked this recipe using the '00' flour mixed with the whole wheat white flour. It was a great texture and was still a light crust with the whole grain bonus. It is really good - my kids will eat it, and they are picky about pizza dough!

7 comments:

Sarah said...

do you have a good pizza sauce that you like? I haven't found one and it is what holds me back from making pizza.

Joy said...

Wow, you take cooking with kids to a whole new level with your various measuring! That's amazing! I'm not sure where I'd be able to find Pizza Flour around here, but I'll keep my eyes open.

Mary Beth said...

I love your posts. I love to cook myself, and while my kids are too young to understand measurements, I still try to get my 18 month old in the kitchen as much as possible (playing with cookie dough and such). I'll be tuning in to see the fun and yummy things ya'll are making

Dawn said...

Yum!

We love pizza...I'm glad I just finished my bowl of veggie chili or I would be off to the store for some pizza ingredients!

:)

Anonymous said...

I've come across your blog when I was searching for a recipe I guess, it's been a while but since then I've been regularly reading both of your blogs. I am constantly getting hungry when you post a new recipe and I always envy you and your boys crafting days when I have to go to school. Then I wished I was a child and had still time to do this stuff but then I remind myself that I can make it different in the future. It's really sort of inspiring to actually think of becoming a parent when reading about your life.
Oops, now that was a lot for just a comment but I wanted to be honest and not a lurker. Sorry for my english by the way, I am no native. So, now I am of to try a recipe of yours since I am on vacation =)

Leanne Pizio said...

Can't wait to try this wonderful recipe!
Looks so yummy.

Anonymous said...

Looks great (delicious) and fun.
Love the addition of whole wheat flour. I may even try to find some ww -pastry flour and give it a go!