What's For Dinner: Pizza

When I was in Santa Fe, I ran into Border's to grab a magazine or two for the plane ride home. My eye was instantly drawn to donna hay magazine (apparently Donna Hay is the Martha Stewart of Australia) -- it probably didn't hurt that there was a mouth-watering cherry tomato, basil, and mozzarella pizza on the cover. Issue 47 is full of great recipes and absolutely gorgeous photos. For tonight's dinner, I decided we would try out her pizza dough recipe. I put D on dough duty while I was in pottery class, and we made the pizzas upon my return home.

We opted to cut the dough in half and make two pizzas. One Greek pizza and one margherita pizza.

Basic Pizza Dough
Adapted from the basic pizza dough recipe on p. 147 of donna hay magazine, Issue 47
makes 2 30 cm pizzas (we just cut one 60 cm round in half for our two pizzas)

1 T dry yeast
1 t raw sugar
1 C lukewarm water
2 1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 t fine sea salt
1 T olive oil

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside in a warm place for about 5 minutes or until bubbles appear.
2. Put the flour, salt, and olive oil in a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture in the well and mix together with well-floured hands to form a dough.
3. Knead dough on a lightly-floured surface for 3-4 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into two equal-size balls. Cover the balls with a clean, damp cloth and and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until the balls have doubled in size.
4. Press each dough ball into a round and roll out on a lightly-floured surface.

Greek Pizza
prepared crust
olive oil
1/4 C red onion, sliced
12 kalamata olives, chopped
1 vine-ripened tomato, sliced (remove seeds)
1/2 C feta cheese, crumbled

1. Drizzle olive oil over the crust.
2. Add the feta cheese, red onion, kalamata olives, and tomato slices.
3. Bake at 425 degrees on a baking stone for 20 minutes.

Margherita Pizza
prepared crust
1/4 C tomato sauce
fresh mozzarella, sliced (or shredded if you prefer)
1 vine-ripened tomato, sliced (remove seeds)
6 organic basil leaves (wash and pat dry), cut into rough strips

1. Cover the crust with a generous amount of tomato sauce. Be sure to leave the edges sauce-free.
2. Add the mozzarella slices, sliced tomatoes, and basil strips.
3. Bake at 425 degrees on a baking stone for 20 minutes.

After removing from the oven, let both pizzas cool for about 5 minutes, then cut into slices. Note: A glass of two-buck Chuck makes an excellent accompaniment.