timelapse pizza deluxe

i've been making my own pizza for many years now - the crust, the toppings, the whole enchillada, er... pizza. here's how i do it:

• 3 cups unbleached flour
• 1/3 cup grated parmensan cheese
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2.33 teaspoons of dry yeast
• 1.33 cups of warm water
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 8 - 10 large white mushrooms or their sliced equivalent
• 200 ml can of sliced ripe black olives
• 200g proscuito ham
• 200g sliced
• pepperoni
• 200g salami
• 250g mild cheddar
• 250g mozerella
• 5.5oz can of tomato paste
• oregano, thyme, onion salt to taste

add yeast to warm water and sugar to activate the yeast. allow it to froth for at least 10 - 15 minutes. in a large bowl, mix the 2.5 cups of flour, parmesan, salt and garlic powder. add the olive oil and half of the yeast water. mix. add the remaining yeast water and mix thoroughly. your dough will probably be wet at this point - take some flour and add until the dough reaches a doughy, kneadable consistency.add some extra flour to the bowl and allow to set for half an hour. after half an hour, stretch and knead the dough and allow to set another half hour, after which time, it will be good to go. use this time to prepare your toppings. cut the peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni and any other toppings that you have into usable pieces. grate the cheese. when the dough is ready, divide it into half. you should have enough dough for two 14" - 16" pizzas. grease pizza pan with some extra olive oil. stretch the dough until it will cover the pan. make edges against the sides of the pizza pan. add half of the tomato paste and season to taste. add the meat. add the vegetables. top with cheese. bake in oven at 375 degrees F for about 20 minutes. cool. slice and serve.

i prefer to use the tomato paste to prepared pizza sauces because i can control the amount of salt in the mix much better this way. also, it's a huge relief to know what is going into your pizza, as opposed to ordering it take out and not knowing how it's been prepared. i typically make two big pizzas and freeze them (thanks melanie!!) so that i can have a healthy available lunch on demand.

oh, and i would recommend screening your ingredients for cat hair, just in case your furry friends have been sniffing around your kitchen while you were off doing other chores.

- g

song of the day for makin' pizzas: "everything", tiësto featuring jes.