A Plain Pizza Pie Food

A PLAIN PIZZA PIE

Steps:

• At least 45 minutes before cooking, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 550 degrees.
• Drain the tomatoes over a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the liquid for another use. Break up the tomatoes and drain the juices, pressing them with a wooden spoon. The tomatoes should be fairly dry.
• Place the dough on a heavily floured surface and stretch and pull, using your hands or a rolling pin, into about a 14-inch round. Place on a lightly floured pizza peel or rimless baking sheet. Cover with the toppings, being careful not to press on the dough and weigh it down: the crushed tomatoes first, then the cheese, leaving roughly a 1/2-inch border. Shake the pizza peel slightly to make sure the dough is not sticking. (Gently lift any sections that are sticking and sprinkle the peel with flour.) Carefully slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone in one quick, forward-and-back motion. Cook until the crust has browned on the bottom and the top is bubbling and browning in spots, about 7 minutes. Top with the basil, and season with olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan. Serve hot. Makes 1 pizza.

PLAIN PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• 1. Measure your ingredients accurately. Too much flour makes pastry tough, too much shortening makes it crumble, and too much water makes it tough!
• 2. Stir together the flour and salt. Then cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. If you overwork the mixture, your pastry may not be flaky.
• 3. Add COLD water gradually to the flour mixture, then gentle toss it together just until it's even moist. I use a hand-held pastry blender.
• 4. To roll out dough with little sticking, use a rolling pin with a cotton knit cover and a pastry cloth. I don't do this, but it's good advice. I use a regular wooden rolling pin and a plastic pastry mat from Tupperware. It works fine.
• 5. Remove the pastry from the bowl and roll into a ball. Mash "ball" kind of flat with your hand before you use the rolling pin, keeping the edges round and not ragged. This takes some practice. Make sure your rolling pin and your pastry mat is lightly floured.. Roll pastry to an even thickness. Try not to stretch it as you're transferring it to the pie place. To do this, roll your pastry over your rolling pin and roll it over the pie plate gently.
• 6. Fit pastry into your plate gently. Trim 1/2 to 1" beyond edge; fold under and flute edge by pressing dough with forefinger against wedge made of finger and thumb of other hand. Pierce bottom and sides well with a fork. (If filling and crust are baked together, do not prick...like a cherry pie, etc) For a single crust, bake at 450 for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.
• 7. Use a glass pie plate or dull metal pie pan so the pastry browns evenly. Check that your oven temperature is accurate. If it's too low,and you're making a two-pie crust for a cherry or apple pie, the bottom crust will be soggy.
• 8. For a double crust pie, make two pie crusts by doubling the recipe. For a double crust pie, trim lower crust even with rim of pie plate. Cut slits in top crust. Lift pastry by rolling it over rolling pin; then unroll loosely over well-filled pie. Trim top crust 1/2" beyond edge. Tuck top crust under edge of lower crust. Flute edge of pastry. If edge of crust browns too quickly, fold strip of foil around rim of crust, covering fluted edge. Follow individual pie directions for oven temp.

PIZZA GAIN AKA PIZZAGAINA, PIZZA RUSTICA, ITALIAN EASTER HAM PIE

Steps:

• Cube ham meat. Cut sliced meat by rolling & slicing or cutting with scissors. Cube mozzarella. In very large bowl, add ricotta & basket cheese. Add 15 eggs. Hand stir with whisk. Add 3 heaping tablespoons Grated cheese - then stir in the cubed meat and cheese.
• Brush pan with oil then melted butter. Roll out & lay dough. Add cheese/meat mixture. Add top layer of dough and pinch bottom & top dough seams together tightly.
• Brush top with oil then egg. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Make Easter Cross with large fork to vent. Bless.
• Bake 375º x 10 min then 350º x 60 min then 325º x 30-45 minute.
• Remove from oven. Brush top with melted butter. Cool 2-3 hours Turn upside down overnight on large board. Cover pizza tightly with paper towel, foil, & dish-towel. Refrigerate. Serve noon or later on Easter Saturday.

PEPPERONI PIZZA PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Make up the pizza base following pack instructions. Knead on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 balls, 1 slightly bigger than the other. Roll out the bigger ball to about 32cm diameter. Place on a floured baking sheet or pizza tray.
• Top the pizza base with the pasta sauce, pepperoni, onion, pepper, mozzarella, oregano, 1 tbsp of the Parmesan and a little black pepper.
• Roll the smaller piece of dough to about 28cm diameter and place on top of the pizza filling. Fold the edge of the base over the top, pressing the edges together to seal - use a little water to help stick if you need to. Sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan and bake for 15 mins until puffed and golden.