Every Likes Pizza

[andrawes76]

But we love homemade custom pizzas. Perhaps we can share a few recipies of homemade pizzas and your favorite wines to go with? Love to hear your thoughts n' ideas

[hotwine]

We rarely take the time to crank out a homemade pizza these days. Have found the frozen ones from California Pizza Kitchen are tough to beat, especially their Scicilian, Margherita and Pepperoni. We might add a few chopped mushrooms to those, but otherwise take 'em straight. For wines.... mercy.... Chianti Classico Reserva, Montepulciano, Brunello, Barolo..... Sangiovese or Nebbiolo, but must be authentic Italian and not a New World knock-off.

[Kcwhippet]

What a coincidence. I got home from the shop and started the dough, which is in its first rise. While I'm waiting for it to finish, I came on the board. Next I'm going to make the sauce - a 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil, salt and fresh oregano. I dump the tomatoes into a bowl, then rip them apart by hand and put them into another bowl, add 2 tsp chopped fresh oregano, 1 tbsp EVOO and a pinch of kosher salt. Mix it all up and that's it - no cooking. After the dough is done, I'll form the pizzas, spread some sauce on each, add toppings, a drizzle of EVOO and a sprinkle of salt. For toppings, I generally like a Margharita with just some sauce, basil and sliced fresh buffalo mozzarella (I like the small balls called Ciliegine), and maybe sometimes I'll add some sliced fresh mushrooms and garlic. Judy likes a lot of stuff on hers - sliced Cubanelle, onion, hamburg, garlic, pepper, tomato along with the sauce, basil and mozzarella. For the wine, we generally go with Zin - tonight I was thinking of a 2003 David Coffaro. Gotta go - the timer just went off. I have to punch down the dough and put it back for another 30 minutes rise. Oh, BTW, the oven is at 550 with a stone on the rack. Somehow with the stone in, the temp gets up close to 600.

[TheEngineer]

What a coincidence...I ate pizza at an airport today.... ohh... not quite the same? I guess not [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

[hotwine]

That recipe is a keeper, KC! Thanks for posting it.

[Kcwhippet]

Well, we finally ate about 8:30 last night, but the wait was worth it. The pizzas came out wonderfully!! The crust had a nice oven char and good chewiness. More importantly, the crust had good stiffness - I hate pizza that flops when you pick it up. Anyway, the pizzas were great, and we decided agaginst the zin and had beer instead. Oh well...

[hotwine]

Good choice....

[Thomas]

Hate to admit it, but I gave up making pizza at home--takes too long.

When I did, my sauce was similar to KC's.

My toppings, however, were all over the map, which is what happens in many parts of Italy, too. I used to love to top them with shelfish: mussels, clams, or shrimp, and always added some hot pepper slices.

Yep, usually with Zinfandel or a Neapolitan wine, which is where the kind of pizza I like was originally developed.

[andrawes76]

Wow KC, that's a pretty detailed and delicious sounding recipe. I've been trying to make whole grain dough, but can't seem to make it work. Pizza and zinfandel are a solid match made in heaven.

[Kcwhippet]

PW, Forget the whole grain; it's just too much work for any realized benefit. I use (and have for way over twenty years) King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose flour. The final product turns out just great - and it tastes yummy, too.

Here's my recipe - I add 1 tsp sugar and 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast to 1 cup warm (about 110 F) water and let it do its thing for about 10 minutes. In my Kitchen Aid bowl I put in 3 cups King Arthur flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp EVOO, and mix it up. Then I add the yeast mix and let it go on speed 4 for about 4 to 6 minutes. Then I put the dough ball in a bowl greased with EVOO, cover it with some greased plastic wrap and let it sit for about 1 hour. Next I punch it down, put it back in the bowl and let it rise for another 30 minutes. Finally, I divide it in half, form the pies, cover with the sauce, mozzarella, basil and sprinkle with a smidge more EVOO and some salt - then put on any other toppings. Finally, into the hot oven until the crust around the edges get some good, golden color (about 8 to 9 minutes). When I take it out, I let it rest for about 5 minutes to let it set, cut it up and dig in. It comes out awesome!!

[This message has been edited by Kcwhippet (edited 09-21-2009).]

[wondersofwine]

The last time I did something similar I cheated a bit by using a purchased pizza crust and pizza sauce. I made a vegetarian pizza with artichoke bottoms, red or orange bell pepper bits, pimiento-stuffed olive slices, onion slices, and maybe mushrooms. I added shredded cheddar and romano cheese.

[Georgie]

This brings back memories of my mom who made the best pizza I ever ate. She got the dough recipe from an great old Italian restaurant in Asbury Park, NJ. No oil in her dough, unlike KC's. I've never tried making it, but maybe I'll give it a shot this winter.

[Thomas]

Settle in, Georgie. I hear the northeast is in for an early and long winter...something about the color of certain caterpillars and the early journey south of Canada geese.

[hotwine]

Foodster, those critters are surely smarter than our local weatherheads! Send 'em down here, and we can probably find em jobs.

[Georgie]

Yes, I think it's the wooly bear caterpillar or somethng like that. If the middle stripe on them is wide, it means a bad winter. I've also heard that if the squirrels are running around with their tails curled up, it means a cold winter. Someone the other day told me it was going to be a bad winter because the acorns were dropping early. Take your pick of folk predictions. All indicate a severe winter.

[wondersofwine]

Well at least you'll have your love to keep you warm!

[Georgie]

OH YEAH!

[coralie]

oh guys it is a sacrilege to associate wine with pizza, even 'piquette' wines...
please go and buy a good 'saumon fumé' to replace you pizza, or let your wine in the cellar..


[This message has been edited by Personal Wine (edited 11-24-2009).]

[VouvrayHead]

And what would you serve with Oxiclean? I saw an advertisement for it on your site, so I figure you could help us.

[winoweenie]

Wow Coraalie you're a busy new poster. Not sure what you may have in mind but let me assure you there are some VERY knowledgable wine people on this board who really have experience and know what they like. So far I haven't found a post from you about wine...Only criticism of our tastes. WW

[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 09-27-2009).]