Joey’s List: Home Made Pizza

Jenelle and I are expecting our first child next February. In July we found out our baby Joey was diagnosed with a severe Neural Tube Defect and is not expected to live more than a day. To celebrate her all too brief life Jenelle and I are keeping a list of experiences she would have had if she wasn’t expected to leave us so soon.

Joey’s List: Home Made Pizza

I love pizza.  I acknowledge this isn’t a very controversial position.  That said, I am certain at some point I would have taught Joey how to make home made pizza.

During Jenelle and my 2012 trip to Rome we visited the Coliseum and it was there I found a round book, entirely in Italian, giving 50 pizza recipes.  I wanted to buy this book…I’m talking REALLY wanted to buy it.  But Jenelle made some excellent points…namely it was in Italian, so on the shelf it remained.

It was a few weeks after we got back that I received a mystery package at work.  Inside was this.

Conveniently translated into English by the good people at Readers Digest.  I’ve have the book for a year now and this is the first time I have used the recipe for the dough, which was amazingly simple.

1 cup of warm water divided.
1/2 tbsp Active Dry Yeast
2 cups of Bread Flour plus more for the counter
1/3 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil (optional)

In a measuring cup add the yeast to 1/2 cup of warm water, put aside until frothy – 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile mix the flour and salt together in a medium bowl.  Add the yeast mixture along with the oil if using into flour and stir.  Add the second half cup of warm water gradually until you have a sticky cohesive dough.  Turn onto the counter and knead for 8-10 minutes until a smooth ball that does not stick to your hands or the counter.

Place in a large oiled bowl and let rise covered for an hour. Turn your oven to it’s highest non-broil setting (500°F) and shape your dough into a disk.  Add whatever topping you prefer; we used ham and pineapple on one (a VERY popular pie in Australia) and the leftover ham on the second.

They turned out pretty good.  I cannot wait to try the recipe again.

Here I am, kneading the pizza dough.

The first pizza was a ham and pineapple pie as that is a popular flavor in Australia a favorite of Jenelle. Obviously I approve.

The second pizza I made…mostly cheese with a smidge of black forest ham.

Here is the Hawaiian pizza, close up.

Such is my dedication to the craft that I found myself with this mild burn at the base of my thumb.