Rustic Pizzas
There are many kinds of pizza. I put them into three categories:
- Italian American pizza (red sauce, cheese, any number of toppings)
- California Pizzas (Wolfgang-Puck inspired toppings with odd-ball ingredients, different flavors)
- Rustic, homemade pizzas (anything not perfectly round)
I know, this is overly simplistic. There are of course thin-crusts, Neopolitan-style, deep-dish, etc., but who really cares? The reason I came up with my three variations is because they are for me, “different moods.” Sometimes I’m hungry for a BBQ chicken pizza, but not for a Papa John’s style pie. Sometimes, I’m open to something homemade I make at home… and other times, the good old-fashioned pizzeria style is what I’m after. Yes—no matter what I put on my own—it goes into category three. I recently had the opportunity to make some pizza, and came up with a simple tomato sauce with cheese, and a spicy Italian mushroom.
Pizza Dough
I make my own dough. I sometimes come up with something great, sometimes not. I hardly ever follow a recipe. This time around, I used 50% whole wheat flour, and 50% all purpose. I added a lot of yeast, and brown sugar. It rose fast. I also add warm water, olive oil and salt, for flavor.
This was a wet dough, and it was better for being wet… easier to handle, stretch, and form. I didn’t worry about a perfect round shape. With my patience, I’m incapable of doing that.
Sauce
I impregnated each stretched dough with raw garlic slivers, extra-virgin olive oil, and a smearing of Bartoli organic tomato sauce with basil. It’s a rather thick and chunky sauce, very rich in flavor.
Variations
For the first pizza, I topped it with black pepper and Kraft pre-shredded mozzarella cheese. I know, pre-shredded cheese and supermarket sauce isn’t screaming gourmet. But it was pretty good, I must say.
For the second, I spiced things up with Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, rosemary) and red pepper flakes. I topped the pizza with the same cheese, then several slices of freshly-cut mushrooms.
Both got baked on a pizza stone with my oven set to 550 degrees. It’s a good idea to heat things up way in advance for a good crust.
I pulled them out when the cheese started to brown a bit. These pizzas, without a lot of messy toppings, were a breeze to cut with the pizza cutter.
One Response to “Rustic Pizzas”
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SueP
Said this on July 28th, 2007 at 9:09am:I am inspired…planning on making my own version of your “Rustic Pizzas” tonight. The photos look incredibly similar to pizzas that my cousin Tino made the last time he visited from Northern Italy!