Pizza

I have learned a key fact about Italian cooking. It is simple, and I don't mean simple as in an easy cuisine, I mean simple as in few ingredients. However, the simplistic meals served are perfected. So much so that you'll be gobsmacked at just how delicious food truly is when you aren't trying to outdo the ingredients themselves. Keep it simple, don't overthink it, and you'll soon be cooking each ingredient to perfection.

I have tried several different pizza crusts. Some with egg and some without; some that need to rest overnight and some that don't. However, I found a small unassuming cookbook all about the history of pizza and the author really wanted to embrace the origins of pizza. It provided three simple recipes, all of which I have tried. I kept gravitating back to the first crust but made a few changes... So I guess now it is mine(?).

Pizza crust Ingredients:

500g all-purpose flour

1 packet active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/2 TBSP honey

1 TBSP olive oil

Pinch of sea salt

1. In a large bowl combine salt and flour.

2. In a separate bowl dissolve the honey into the warm water.

3. Mix the yeast into the honey/water mixture until it dissolves. Let it stand for a few minutes until it starts to bubble/froth.

---> yeast can be temperamental. If the water is too hot it will die. If the water is too cold it will take forever to activate. So, I just make sure the water is warm to the touch and not too hot across my wrist. If you're a parent, you know the hot bottle test, where you put a few drops of water on the vein on your wrist and if it isn't too hot it is fine. Same thing. I do the yeast separate from my flour because if my yeast doesn't activate I can try again and not waste my flour.<---

4. Combine yeast, olive oil, and flour until a dough ball forms. If the dough is too wet, add a sprinkle of flour until it firms up. If it is too dry, try adding a couple teaspoons of water.

5. Flour your hands and work surface lightly and knead dough into a ball.

6. Divide dough in half (or more for mini pizzas) and form into balls.

7. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in the bowls for your dough to rise, rubbing it around the sides.

8. Place each ball of dough in a bowl and cover with a dish towel to double (for about an hour; cut the rising time in half by doubling your yeast in the ingredients list).

9. While your dough rises, light your wood for your brick oven... Oh, don't have one of those? Then heat your oven to 475 

Look. Unless you've got a sweet pizza oven, I highly suggest you invest in a pizza stone. I long for the day when I will have one, but for now I have a pizza stone from Emile Henry. Pizza stones come several different sizes from several different companies but they're far superior to a baking sheet because of their ability to maintain high heat. This heat allows that crisp crust to form on the bottom of your pizza.

With that said, preheat your stone, for at least fifteen minutes. This will allow the stone to get to that crust crisping temperature you want. While your pizza stone preheats you can prepare your toppings & pizza sauce. Our go-to pepperoni (salame picante here in Italy) consists of a simple tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, pepperoni (salame picante), and Parmesan cheese.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients:

Tomato purée

Pinch of sea salt

Step one: mix them together.

Remember I said simplicity? Well, here  is a great example of that. I've tried several pizza sauce recipes but none have ever lived up to this simple recipe. I'm not making spaghetti, I'm making pizza and believe it or not, the unmuddled flavor of simple tomato and salt is divine.

Now, if your stone is almost done preheating and your dough has doubled, roll out one ball of dough large enough to fit your pizza stone. Pull your pizza stone out of the oven & sprinkle a bit of flour on it. Transfer your dough to the stone, spread on a layer of pizza sauce, and pop it back in the oven for five minutes.

Remove stone. Add toppings. Return to oven for 8-10 minutes until crust is golden. Serve.

Gyoza (potstickers)

I have to admit I was in a huge rush when I made these tonight, I had to beat my husband's deadline. He got to be up at 2am tomorrow and has planned to hit the sack at 8pm, which meant dinner needed to be ready at 6pm so he could shower, shave, read the kids a bedtime story, and be done for the night.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound ground beef (pork, chicken, and shrimp will all work as long as it is ground)

1/4 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4oz mushrooms, diced

1 medium carrot, grated

1/2 cup bok choy or cabbage, diced (incuding white of leaf)

1 TBSP grated ginger (now, I love ginger! I'm a ginger baby. I will eat pickled ginger straight so I double this)

1/8 cup shoyu (soy sauce; I use low sodium so I add a bit more salt to taste)

1 tsp white pepper

2 cups flour

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup boiling hot water

Olive oil 

In a saucepan, sautée onion in a bit of olive oil until translucent (about 8 minutes). Add ground beef (if you're doing shrimp you can skip this step as they will steam at the end to cook but make sure you dice it finely or pulse it through the food processor). Add onion and meat to a mixing bowl. Stir in garlic, mushrooms, carrot, bok choy, ginger, shoyu, and white pepper.

In a separate mixing bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer and paddle attachment) combine flour and salt. Create a well and add water to the center. Incorporate water until a smooth dough forms. If it is too fry add a bit more water. Too tacky add a bit of flour. Knead dough on a well-floured surface & incorporate as much additional flour as possible while kneading to form a stiff dough.

Divide dough in four and cover three portions. Roll out the fourth portion about 1/16 of an inch (I used my pasta roller attachment for my mixer to setting 3).

Again, I was in a rush so I didn't cut the wrappers how I would usually, which is round. I just cut them square. Spoon 1 1/2 - 2 TBSP of mixture in each one slightly elongated. Next, gather the wrapper up around the mixture as if to fold it in half and fold the ends together all the way down to seal the wrappers. 

Heat some olive oil in a sauce pan on medium. Put the gyoza in the pan in batches and brown 2-3 minutes. Don't try to move them, the reason they are called potstickers is because they STICK on purpose. Now add about 1/8 cup water to the pan and cover with lid to steam 3-5 minutes until gyoza release from the pan. If you used shrimp you'll see the orange color enhance to indicate it is cooked.

I hit a speed bump trying to pricematch my olive oil today so I sprayed my steamer with non-stock spray and steamed them for 7 minutes.

With the leftover dough I made some tortillas to be used at a later date: