Monday, June 10, 2013

White Pizza



White Pizza is our favorite kind . . . no meat, just several different cheeses and a few veggies – no tomato sauce.  We make the same basic crust for regular pizzas, too.  It’s crisp on the edges and softer inside . . . perfect!  We used to have to go to an Italian deli for the Semolina flour, but now most grocery stores carry it in the flour section.
White Pizza
Ingredients
½ cup all purpose flour
½ cup Semolina flour
½ tsp. salt
½ oz. dry yeast
½ cup lukewarm water
olive oil (see amounts in directions)
1 tbl. shortening
2 tbl. cornmeal
1 garlic clove, smashed & minced, then sauteéd  in 2 tbl. of olive oil until soft, about 2 minutes
8 fresh Basil leaves, simmered  in water for a few minutes, drained and then sliced into thin strips
1 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
1 medium bell pepper, cut into ¼” rings
½ red onion, sliced into 1/8” rings
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
8 mushrooms, sliced and sautéed in 1 tbl. olive oil and water until tender and liquid has evaporated
good pinch of black pepper
½ cup Feta cheese, crumbled
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
12 oz. Mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated


Directions
·         Sift the 2 flours together with the salt and place in a bowl
·         Sprinkle the yeast over the lukewarm water in a bowl, stir in and let proof for 10 minutes
·         Pour yeast mixture over the flour mixture and stir until well blended
·         Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and using your hands, form a soft dough ball
·         Knead well, pulling and stretching until smooth and elastic - see video below (may need to add a bit more flour if too wet or water if too dry)
·       Lightly oil a bowl and place dough ball in the bowl and roll it around in the oil, then cover with a towel and let rise in a warm location for 2 to 3 hours, until almost doubled in size
·         On a 15” pizza stone, spread 1 tbl. shortening and 2 tbl. cornmeal evenly
·         Roll the dough ball out to a 12” circle on a lightly floured surface
·         Carefully place the dough on the pizza stone and press out the edges all the way around with your fingers until you form a crust
·         Let dough rise again while on the pizza stone for another 20 minutes
·         Poke the crust in several places with a fork, then brush with olive oil and the sautéed garlic evenly
·         Place the Basil strips evenly around the crust, then also sprinkle the oregano evenly over crust
·         Top with bell peppers, onions, Parmesan, mushrooms, black pepper, Feta cheese, and tomatoes
·         Heat oven to 425°
·         Bake the pizza about 14 minutes, then remove from oven and sprinkle with the Mozzarella and a bit more Parmesan, and drizzle with 1 tbl. olive oil
·         Reduce oven heat to 400, return the pizza to the oven and bake another 10 minutes
·         Remove from oven, slice and eat!  Enjoy!

1 comment:

We would love to hear from you! Please leave us a comment about any of our recipes you have tried, or if you have questions about any recipe. We would also like to have your feedback on the blog in general, as we are new at this and the blog is a work in progress. Thanks!