I've been itching to make my own pizza dough for a while and bought a baking stone to give me a motivation boost. I was on the search for the elusive “00” flour to make Jamie Oliver’s recipe, but then I ran smack into Trader Joe's (or Trader Giotto's, rather) pre-made pizza dough and my motivation crashed down to nil, or close to it. Not that this pizza dough is the end all, be all, everything I want a pizza crust to be. But it's so darn convenient. That's much of what makes Trader Joe's so enticing, I suppose. Don’t get it twisted, I’m not knocking them at all. I’m a TJ-aholic. It’s just that some of their products are so good and easy, I catch myself cooking less and assembling more. Not a bad thing when I consider the time-saving factor.
With this pizza dough, some mozzarella, tomato sauce, and any assortment of fresh and/or jarred toppings you like on your pie, a tasty weeknight dinner or weekend lunch is only a few minutes away. We always add fresh garlic and sundried tomatoes to ours. Sometimes we throw on some grain sausage (one of the only good "fake meat" type of products I've found) or soy chorizo (another one of the few) roasted red peppers, broccoli, and asiago cheese. Yum.
Hi, Mia's paws!
Semi-homemade Pizza (I wish the Food Network tablescape lady hadn’t ruined that term. I’m using it anyway)
Super simple. No exact measurements needed, trust me.
You just take the dough ball out of the fridge and leave it at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat your oven (and baking stone, if you have one) to 500 degrees F.
Sprinkle your work surface and rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough to a rough 12-inch circle.
Spread with tomato sauce (we’ve been using Trader Joe’s basil marinara), sprinkle with mozz, and add your preferred pizza toppings. Don’t forget to leave a ¼ inch trim around the edge for something to hold on to.
Sprinkle your pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal right before sliding your pizza on. (Do it sooner and it will burn. Been there.)
Bake for 10 or so minutes, until cheese and crust are browning.
By the way, it helps having a pizza peel to get the pizza in and out of the oven in one reasonably good-looking piece.
Slice and serve.
I like to make a Light Salad as an accompaniment: mixed greens, fennel, pea shoots, carrots, almonds, dried cranberries, and apple. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Squeeze a bunch of lemon juice over and drizzle with good-quality extra virgin olive oil. Mix with your hands. Onto the plate it goes. Settle down with your plate and a glass of wine in front of The Wire and you have a fine time ahead of you.
