Pizza

Hard to make it look good on a photo but this homemade thin crust pizza has a spicy tomato base, roasted red pepper, white and oyster mushrooms, soprassata and spicy capicolla meats topped with parmesan and Appenzeller cheeses. It bakes quickly at a 450º F oven on a large pizza stone. The vegetarian pizza had the spicy tomato base, roasted red pepper, artichokes, white and oyster mushrooms and borganzola cheese.

We leave the stone in the oven on the bottom rack at all times to have balanced heating in the oven for other items.

Crusty Pizza Dough Recipe (makes 2 large thin or 1 large regular crust)

2 1/4 - 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (95ºF - 105ºF) *
1/2 tsp salt**
2 tsp olive oil
2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups unbleached organic flour
Cornmeal for pizza stone

*can substitute half of the water with your favourite beer
**we often use cracked pepper and smoked paprika as well as sea salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl. Allow to proof. Add salt, olive oil, and 2/12 cups flour. Using a dough hook on mixer, mix for one minute. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Knead for 2 minutes. Finish kneading on lightly floured board until a springy elastic texture. Place in oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Remove pizza stone from oven and sprinkle with cornmeal. It will smoke slightly. Place rolled out pizza dough on stone and cover with favourite sauce and toppings. Sauce recipe to follow.

Spicy Pizza Sauce

1 medium onion
1 head roasted garlic
2 tbs good olive oil
1 large tin organic tomatoes (crushed)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup red wine
1 tsp crushed chillies
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil pesto (optional - recipe to follow)
1 tbs brown sugar (cuts the acid and balances flavours)
1/4 tsp dried chipotle peppers
pinch sea salt

In a medium saucepan on medium heat, saute slivered onion in olive oil. When translucent, add tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium low. Add spices, garlic and red wine. When cooked through, you can blend sauce using an immersion blender.

Use sauce on pizza or for pasta. Enjoy!