Pizza, Pizza, Day 31 Kitchen Quarantine

We are rolling in dough here at Casa Phillips, between my sourdough foray,

                                                                focaccia making,

and now pizza last night.  Our daughter the doyenne of all things was swearing by the Roberta's pizza dough recipe, so I decided to try that, not knowing what it would produce. 
If you missed Anthony Bourdain's' last episode of No Reservations, he stops at Roberta's.
The dough is simple to make, I highly recommend finding 00 flour, since it really is better when making pizza and focaccia.  Having written that I realize that flour and yeast are hard to find these days since everyone is baking, so if you can't make this during Quarantine Kitchen, save the recipe for later since we decided this was a great pizza dough. 
I made the dough the same day that I baked it, I think had I given it a very slow rise overnight it would have been even better---the fermentation in the dough gives the crust a really delicious flavor.  I took a pizza class at a local pizzeria here in San Diego, and they let their dough slow rise for 1- 2 days. 

Roberta's Pizza Dough

Makes two 12-inch pizzas

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon 00 Flour

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons  all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

scant 1 cup  lukewarm water

Put the flour and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Combine the yeast, oil, and water, stirring to blend.  Pour into the flour, and mix until the dough comes together about 2 minutes.  (you can make the dough by hand if you don't have a stand mixer) Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.  

Knead the rested dough for 3 minutes, either with the dough hook or by hand.  

Cut into 2 equal pieces and shape into balls.  

Place on a heavily floured surface, and cover with a dampened cloth and let rise for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature, or refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.  (if you refrigerate the dough, remove it 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to shake it for pizza)

To make the pizza place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares.  Top with your favorite sauce, cheeses and toppings.  

Bake pizza dough at 425 to 450 degrees for about 10 minutes, until the crust is crisp on the bottom, and the toppings are bubbling.  So you can see I've done this on a baking sheet with oiled aluminum foil; my pizza stone broke years ago, and this works just fine in my convection oven, we had crisp crust, and bubbling cheese.  

This is my mozzarella of choice, it has a flavor; skim milk mozzarella doesn't taste like anything

I made a simple tomato sauce and topped the pizza with whole milk mozzarella, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and dried wild oregano.   

I've got a son who loves extra cheese and since he and the Divine Miss M were coming for dinner, I made these extra cheesy.  Got to support those dairy farmers, right?  

As day 32 dawns, Dr. C. and I look at each other and say, "what shall we do today?"  The past 2 days it's been beautiful after all the rain, and we are going to go for our walk with our masks in place, and possibly a ride in the car.  

Please stay home and stay safe; this is not about you, it's about those who will get sick and be hospitalized or die.  As we are learning you can be asymptomatic and spread the virus, so stay well and stay home.  And, try some new recipes, it can make the time go by, and you'll be feeding your loved ones.  Ciao for now.