This was a good spontaneous pizza: whole wheat crust; pesto from the freezer; a mix of jack and parmesan cheeses; then anchovies, Kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers from a jar, and fresh jalapenos from the garden.
To cook pizza, I preheat a pizza stone in the oven for about half and hour at 450 degrees. Then I build the pizza on a perforated pan sprayed with olive oil. I put the pan on the stone to bake for 8 minutes or until it firms up, then I slide it off onto the stone to finish baking for about 8 more minutes. This seems a lot less risky than using a peel to slide the raw pizza into the oven. The crust still rest directly on the stone for the last half of the baking time, so it gets nice and brown and thoroughly cooked.
We have had a cherry tomato orgy lately. We use them on pizza, in soup, and eat them for breakfast and lunch. It's only a miniature version of your tomato crop in the summer, but what a pleasant phenomenon in November and December.
5 comments:
I always hated the idea of sliding a raw fully topped pizza onto a stone.
The secret is parchment paper. You build the pizza on the paper, slide the paper onto the stone with your peel and bake away.
This way you get the full benefits of the pizza's immediate baking on the stone without the hassle. Also no transferring!
I like the parchment paper idea.
I was SO nervous about the idea of using a peel, until a) I got a nice big wooden peel and dusted it with cornmeal and just went for it, and b) Lawson bought us 4 unglazed quarry tiles instead of one pizza stone, so I have a slightly larger landing surface. Now I would never go back. I can turn my oven up all the way -- 550 in my case -- and slide the pizza right onto the stone and it cooks perfectly in about 6 minutes. Best crusts ever. Bread is better, too.
I looooove anchovies.
becca, Thank you for your comment. I'll try the parchment paper. I've never used it for anything but it sounds perfect.
Just made super anchovie pizza.
I recieved a 13 inch stone for
Christmas and was eager to use it.
I made the pizza in the usual way.
Weis Markets sells pizza dough for
$1.50. Enough to make 2 12 inch pies.
After rolling out the dough to 12 inches,
and adding my sauce, I sprinkle it with
asiago cheese, oregano and crushed red pepper.
Then added mozzarella and top it with anchovies.
But it didn't slide off the pan !
Not enough bench flour !
Had to cook it for 10 minutes on the pan before
I could slide it onto the stone. It's in the
oven now. I'm getting really hungry !
Wish you could smell it !!!!
Well, it's done and smells great !
Parchment paper would have helped !
Now THAT'S my kind of pizza. Love the way you kicked it up with a bit of heat too. I'd slice an onion and put that on as well myself, but the anchovies are the master stroke in this recipe!
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