Getting My Kicks

These days, it's pizza.

First, there's the Really Easy Pizza Crust, which I forgot to take a picture of. But you know, it's just yeast in a little warm milk, with olive oil, salt, and flour thrown in. Knead it for a few minutes, and let it rise for about thirty.

6 tbsp warm milk
pinch sugar
1 1/4 tsp yeast

Stir together for a few minutes, so the yeast dissolves (actually, it just gets soft and lumpy. That's good enough).

Then add:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt

Mix it up, knead it, cover it, and let it rise. Thirty minutes is enough, longer if you want.

What do you want to put on it? Tonight was sausage-and-mushroom-and-chard night.

Prep your ingredients. In this case, I browned the sausage:
 

 Then I sauteed the mushrooms and chard:

 

I also minced some garlic and let it marinate in a tbsp of olive oil:

 

And I grated the mozzarella. Didn't get a picture of it, though.

  

Place your pizza stone in the oven (you DO have a pizza stone, don't you? I'll wait while you get one).

Preheat to 500 degrees.

Sprinkle some cornmeal on the pizza paddle (you'll need to get one when you get the pizza stone). Roll out the dough and place it on the paddle. Crimp the edges to make a rim.

Brush on the olive oil and garlic. Then add these:

 

First the tomato sauce, then the herbs, in whatever amount you're into. I like lots. If it were summer, I'd have fresh herbs.

Sprinkle on the rest of the toppings, saving the cheese for last.

Transfer to the hot stone in the oven. You'll quickly learn the sharp jerk that perfectly slides the uncooked pizza from the paddle to the stone. It's such a feeling of accomplishment.

I was talking to my daughter on the phone while putting the pizza together and sliding it into the oven. So I don't have any pictures of that process. 

But here's the finished deal, about ten minutes later:

 

A lovely dinner, along with the great Argentinian wine - Norton Barrel Select, Malbec 2006.