Make this pizza your way
This week, we are preparing a very simple pizza recipe. Aside from the standard dough and tomato sauce recipes, you can customize your pizza with any toppings you prefer. Here, I have suggested mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, olives and roasted red pepper.
PIZZA
Ingredients
For the dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄2 tablespoon salt
1⁄2 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1⁄2 cups cold water
About 1⁄2 cup semolina, for dusting working table
For the sauce:
2 cups Roma tomatoes, pureed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Handful of basil leaves, finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
For the toppings:
2 cups freshly grated mozzarella cheese
Several slices of pepperoni
1⁄2 cup chopped olives
1⁄2 cup chopped roasted red pepper
Putting it together
Add all of the dough ingredients into a mixing bowl; mix for about five minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes in a warm area.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: In a small pot, add the tomato puree, olive oil and butter and cook for about three minutes. Add the basil and some salt and pepper. Taste the sauce, and if it's a bit too sour, you can add a pinch of sugar to sweeten it. Simmer the sauce for one more minute then remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Once the dough has risen and the sauce is cool, add some semolina to a clean table and stretch the dough with a rolling pin to any shape you want (i.e., square, round, etc.). You have to decide whether you want to make a large pizza or cut the dough in half and make two smaller pizzas.
Top the rolled dough with some tomato sauce, covering the whole surface. Then add cheese, pepperoni, olives and peppers. Bake the pizza in a 425-degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Serve while still hot, topped with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy.
Antonio Villagomez is head chef and owner of Cilantro's restaurant and catering in Yuba City, Calif. Contact him at 530-844-2111. His website is cilantros.us.
