The Daring Bakers Challenge

Pizza

Yes, it's that time again... time for a challenge from the Daring Bakers. I was so excited when I found out that the challenge was going to be pizza. That was something that would make a good meal and not just an "extra" thing sitting around the house tempting me to take a bite.
This recipe for the crust (Pizza Napoletana) is from Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice." The crust is the best I've ever had, and cooking it on a pizza stone made it taste like it came right out of a brick oven. The crust is a thin crust with the edges puffy and chewy. The recipe makes enough for 6 pizzas, and you can freeze the dough for later use.... even better. The main challenge was to toss the dough. I didn't get a picture, but I did attempt... ehhm... unsuccessfully. The dough is so stretchy, and when I tossed it, I kinda ripped it... twice. So I just moved my fists around with the dough on top and stretched it that way.
(Recipe for the dough is at the bottom ... underneath the topping recipes)

Blackened Chicken Pizza

The first pizza topping I made is from Paua Deen magazine. It's made with a white sauce and lots of toppings. I really enjoyed it and thought it was VERY filling. The bacon gave it an extra smoky taste, but I think the pizza would be just as good without it. The chicken was AWESOME. I'm keeping that recipe to make chicken slices to go on a bed of lettuce for future salads.

Paula Deen's Blackened Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
3 tsp blackening seasoning, divided
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
4 TBSP butter, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup whole milk
2 TBSP minced fresh basil
Pizza crust recipe (below)
1 and 1/2 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Sprinkle 2 tsp blackening seasoning evenly over chicken breast.
In a large skillet, melt 2 TBSP butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, or until chicken is done. Remove from heat, and cool. Cut chicken into thin strips; set aside.
In a large skillet, melt remaining 2 TBSP butter over medium heat. Add garlic and shallot, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in flour; cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in wine and milk. Cook, whisking constantly. for 4-5 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in basil and remaining 1 tsp blackening seasoning. Remove from heat.
Spread cream mixture evenly over prepared unbaked crust. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Top evenly with spinach, chicken strips, bacon, remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Bake according to pizza dough directions (below).


Classic Pizza Margarita
The second pizza I made is my favorite kind.... pizza margarita. I've never made my own tomato pizza sauce before, so this was a first for me. I gotta tell you, I'm never going back to the jar stuff. This was absolutely amazing with small chunks of tomatoes and onions, and the oregano gave it the perfect pizza sauce taste. The recipe for the sauce is adapted from foodnetwork.com and makes enough for 2 pizzas.

Ingredients:
(sauce)
1 can (28-ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, in juice
1 small white or sweet onion, finely diced and minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
3 to 4 fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch salt
Pinch fresh ground black pepper
Pinch sugar, optional
2 tablespoons olive oil, to saute
(toppings)
Mozzarella cheese cut into medallions
Basil leaves, whole
1-2 tomatoes, sliced

Directions:
Empty the contents of the tomato can in a mixing bowl and coarsely crush the tomatoes with a fork or your hands, leaving them just a little chunky. In a heavy bottom 2-quart saucepot, add the olive oil, over a medium high flame and heat a little. Add the onions and saute until slightly translucent. Add the garlic and saute about a minute until golden. Quickly add the crushed tomatoes to the mix. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and add the fresh basil and oregano. You can add a touch of sugar if desired or if tomatoes are tart. Simmer on a low flame, stirring often for at least 15 minutes. If not using right away, cool down and store in airtight container in the refrigerator, up to 1 week.
Place sauce on prepared pizza dough. Top with Mozzarella cheese medallions, basil leaves, and tomatoes. Bake according to dough directions (below).


And now for the dough recipe......
Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups
Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled
1 and 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 and 3/4 Cups Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

Directions:

DAY ONE

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil (a few tablespoons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C). NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and re-flour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully, then try again.You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

***************NOTE ON SAUCE: Your sauce (any) should not be too thick as it will thicken in the hot oven. Less is more but make the less truly more by using quality ingredients.