Welcome to food adventures with Chef Jonathan. In honor of National Pizza Day, Chef will be showing us how to make a tasty homemade cheesy pesto pizza!
Making your dough
2 days needed!
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups of unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour
7/8 (or just 1) teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of instant yeast
1/8 cup of olive or vegetable oil
7/8 cups room temperature water, then 1/2 tablespoon of cool water
**If you would like to skip the homemade dough portion, you can buy premade dough at Publix in the bakery!
Instructions:
Stir together the flour, salt, and yeast in a large mixing bowl or electric mixer. With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and cool water until all the flour is absorbed. If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 1-2 minutes, or until the dough forms a coarse ball and the ingredients are evenly mixed. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes then continue to mix for 2-3 minutes to create a smooth, slightly sticky dough. (The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the the bowl – The finished dough will be springy, elastic and sticky and register 60 degrees F.)
Next, sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough. Stretch and fold the dough and form into a ball. Prepare a sheet pan with baking parchment or a silicone baking mat and lightly grease the parchment. Cut the dough into 2 pieces (for two different personal-sized pizzas). Sprinkle flour over the dough and gently form each half into a round ball. *Don’t forget to keep your hands all floury! Mist the dough with olive oil and cover – refrigerate overnight.
24 Hours Later…..
(Remove your dough 2 hours prior to starting to create your pizza – so it’s not cold and doesn’t sweat!)
Preheat your oven to 500 Degrees F and put your pizza pan into the oven to heat up.
Dust the counter with flour and transfer one of your dough balls onto the counter. This is where the fun part comes in! Use a rolling pin to roll out your dough into your desired size.
If you’re feeling a little daring, you can try to toss your pizza dough like the professionals. Sometimes it comes out perfectly…..
And sometimes you almost drop it on the floor….Three second rule!
** Tip: The key to tossing pizza dough is to keep your hands well floured and use your fists instead of your finger tips to toss.
Toppings:
Once you have prepared your dough….. It’s ready for toppings!!
grated cheese
onions
pesto
homemade or canned pasta sauce
pepperoni or salami
Add your sauce. Leaving a little bit of space on the outer edges for the crust.
We added a little bit of fresh pesto to the outer edges to give our crust a little extra zing.
Sliced salami and onions went on ours.
Don’t forget the cheeeeeseee! Actually the most important part. 😉 (Secret: we actually made two pizzas so this is a pic of the first attempt!)
Once you’ve added all of your toppings, slide onto the heated pan in the oven and bake for 5-8 minutes.
Two attempts at pizza from Chef Jonathan, means a big mess. Big mess = delicious pizza, so I guess I’m okay with it.
The Finished Product
Ta-da!!!! Scrumptious and steaming cheesy pizza!
Paired with a small fresh green arugula salad from the garden and a lite vinaigrette and you’re ready to eat!
Follow along each month as Chef Jonathan shows us how to create delicious dishes and channel our inner Bobby Flay!
Let us know if you have any questions below and enjoy!
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