Pie, Oh My! Easy Make-At-Home Pizza
Here's a weighty figure: The average American eats 23 pounds, or 46 slices, of pizza every year. Multiply the cost a few dozen times, add tips for the delivery boy, and you'll see a heavy pizza habit can put a crimp in your household budget.
But if you made pizza at home - without any special equipment or a brick oven - would you be able to replicate that pizza parlor taste? Yes, according to Grace Parisi, the senior test kitchen associate at Food & Wine magazine.
Over the years, Parisi has developed her own pizza recipe. To prove that it's easy to make with the help of children, she brought her own kids to The Saturday Early Show to lend a hand. Parisi developed a three-course menu for "Chef on a Shoestring" that you can make at home for under $40.
Parisi has spent more than 12 years testing and developing the recipes that appear in her magazine, considered one of the food world's bibles. Despite her sophisticated palate, pizza remains one of her favorite foods, and the recipe she's sharing is one she wrote and uses at home with her 5-year-old son Malcolm and her daughter, Pia, 10.
According to Grace, it takes more time than effort to make pizza dough. She suggests making the dough ahead of time and letting it sit in your refrigerator overnight, or even up to three days. This allows the dough to develop a chewy crust with a slight tang; the longer it sits, the more texture and complexity it develops.
Her dough is a simple mixture of water, yeast, sugar, flour and salt. Once you've allowed the dough to sit overnight, you then need to allow an hour for it to rise. Parisi's recipe will make four 13-inch pizzas.
Short on time? You can also buy pre-made pizza dough - look for it in the refrigerated or freezer section of your grocery store. Parisi also says many pizzerias will sell you their dough; she often buys dough from a pizza place that she and her family visit regularly.
She feels the key to good pizza is a wonderful sauce. Her super-fast recipe: buy San Marzano tomatoes and place them in a food processor with some dried oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper. Top off your pizza with some fresh mozzarella. Of course the beauty of making pizza at home is that you can add any toppings you like; each family member can even make a mini-pizza, so those who love anchovies and other less-favored toppings can indulge.
If you're going to make pizza at home on a regular basis, there are three tools that Parisi suggests you invest in:
A baking stone: You'll get a crispier crust if you use a pizza stone. Place the stone in your oven at least 45 minutes before cooking so it can heat. You can also use plain, unglazed terra cotta tiles from a home improvement store - they cost only a few dollars. Or you can simply place the pizza on a baking sheet, then transfer to the oven rack during the final minutes of cooking to crisp up the crust. The Food & Wine
recommendation: Fibrament Baking Stone: This cement stone yields crispy crusts and is more durable than ceramic ($53; www.bakingstone.com).
A pizza peel: These are the wooden circles or squares with long handles used to get the pizza in and out of the oven; you've seen them at your local pizza parlor. They are not very expensive and will make your job much easier. The Food & Wine recommendation: Best Manufacturing Peel - Dough sticks less to wood than metal; this peel is ideal for a home oven ($27; williams-sonoma.com).
A pizza slicer: The Food & Wine recommendation: Typhoon Pizza Slicer: This mezzaluna-style cutter is easier to control than wheel cutters ($18; typhoonus.com).
ZUCCHINI CARPACCIO
TOTAL TIME: 15 MIN
(serves 4)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound small green and yellow zucchini, sliced 1/8-inch thick on the diagonal with a mandoline
1 bunch arugula (1/4 pound), large stems discarded
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, shaved (1 cup)
Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk the olive oil with the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Add the zucchini and toss well; let stand for 3 minutes. Arrange the zucchini slices, overlapping them slightly, on a platter. Add the arugula to the bowl and toss with the dressing, then mound on the zucchini. Scatter the Parmesan over the top and serve.
Recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
PERFECT PIZZA MARGHERITA
ACTIVE TIME: 45 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 2 hours plus overnight resting
(makes 4 13-inch pizzas)
"Letting the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight, I found, results in a chewy crust with a slight tang. I've let mine sit for up to three days, which adds even more texture and complexity." - Grace Parisi
Ingredients:
DOUGH
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (90 degrees to 105 degrees)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
TOPPINGS
One 14-ounce can peeled whole San Marzano tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 pounds buffalo mozzarella, thinly sliced
32 large basil leaves, torn into pieces
Directions:
Making The Dough:
1. In a large bowl, mix the yeast with 1/2 cup of the warm water and the sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of warm water, the 4 cups of flour and the kosher salt and stir until a soft dough forms.
3. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and knead, adding flour as necessary until a silky, but soft dough forms. Use a pastry scraper to help knead the dough.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and brush all over with olive oil.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for up to 3 days.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface; punch down and divide into 4 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Rub each ball with oil and transfer to a baking sheet. Cover the balls loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place for 1 hour.
Preparing The Toppings:
1. Set a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees, allowing at least 45 minutes for the stone to heat.
2. Pass the tomatoes through a food mill set over a medium bowl or pulse them in a food processor until coarsely chopped.
3. Stir in the oregano and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
4. On a lightly floured surface, stretch one ball of dough into a 13-inch round; transfer to a floured pizza peel, adding flour where the dough sticks.
5. Spread 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce over the dough to within 1 inch of the edge.
6. Spread one-fourth of the cheese over the pizza and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil. Season with sea salt and pepper and slide the pizza onto the stone.
7. Bake until the bottom is charred and the cheese is melted, about 8 minutes.
8. Scatter one-fourth of the basil on top and let stand for 3 minutes before serving.
9. Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings.
Recipe by Grace Parisi
PEACH AND BERRY CRUMBLE
(serves 4)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup broken pecan halves
4 large freestone peaches
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 cup mixed fresh berries
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the brown sugar with the flour, oats, cinnamon and salt. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, work in the butter until the mixture resembles peas. Stir in the pecans.
3. Using a small sharp knife, make a shallow X in the bottom of each peach. Add the peaches to the boiling water and blanch for about 30 seconds, then remove and refresh with cold water. Peel, pit and slice the peaches.
4. In a large bowl, toss the peaches with the lemon juice, cornstarch, ginger and the remaining 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Fold in half of the berries and spoon the fruit into a 1-quart baking dish.
5. Sprinkle the crumbs over the fruit, top with the remaining berries and bake for about 30 minutes, or until bubbling and the top is golden.
OR MAKE AHEAD: The crumble can be baked up to 6 hours ahead and reheated before serving.
6. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Recipe by Todd Slossberg