Thin Crusted Focaccia Pizza With Fresh Tomato Basil And Mozzarella Food

PIZZA WITH TOMATO, MOZZARELLA AND BASIL

Steps:

• Set the pizza stone into a cold oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a small sauce pan set over a low flame, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute before adding the tomatoes. Season the tomatoes with the salt, pepper and oregano and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Working on a lightly floured surface, pat one of the pizza dough balls into a flat round shape, working from the center outward. While forming the shape of a pizza crust, work with the tips of the fingers and form a 1/2-inch thick edge. Continue to work outward trying to achieve as even a thickness as possible. When the pizza dough is formed into shape transfer the dough to the peel and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the surface. Sprinkle half the Parmesan cheese evenly over the oiled pizza dough and spoon 3 tablespoons of sauce over the surface. Evenly spread half of the mozzarella over the tomato and finish building your pizza with a few basil leaves roughly torn by hand. Place the pizza onto the pizza stone in the oven by sliding the pizza off of the peel and onto the hot stone. Repeat the process for the second pizza. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the surface is bubbling and the bottom of the crust is well browned.;
• In a bowl, combine the flour and salt, and mix thoroughly. In a separate stainless steel bowl, combine the water and yeast, and using a whisk, add 2 tablespoons of oil. Let rest for 5 minutes. Pour the water into the center of the flour, and with a spatula, stir to combine well into a sticky mass. Pour this mass out onto a lightly floured surface and begin to knead the dough by working the dough with the heel of the palm of your hand. Push outward and pull the inside edge over the top. Repeating the process over again to create a smooth ball of dough free of stickiness. Place the ball of dough into a clean stainless steel bowl that has been brushed with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours or until it has doubled in size. When the dough has risen it can be divided in half and the two pieces formed into two balls which will later be patted into the traditional pizza shape. Yield: 2 12-inch pizza crusts;

PIZZA WITH ARUGULA AND MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven with pizza stone in it to 525 degrees. Shape a pizza, and let it rise a second time. When ready to cook, sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal. Carefully place the pizza on the paddle. Inside the rim, arrange the mozzarella slices evenly. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon of the coarse salt. Sprinkle cornmeal on pizza stone in oven. Slide pizza onto pizza stone. Bake 6 minutes. (If a softer crust is desired, dab rim with moistened brush after 3 minutes, and then cook 3 minutes more.) Remove, and immediately scatter the arugula on the cheese. Sprinkle on the remaining 1/8 teaspoon of coarse salt. Drizzle oil over all and serve immediately.
• In a small bowl or coffee cup mix together the milk and water. Sprinkle in the dry yeast, or crumble the fresh yeast in your hand and mix it into the liquid. Stir once, and let sit in a warm place until there is considerable foam on the top, about 10 to 20 minutes. (If your mixture doesn't foam up at least a little, the yeast wasn't fresh. Buy more and start over.) In a large bowl combine the sifted flours with the salt. Mix well. Spill the foaming yeast mixture into the bowl and, working with a wooden spoon, mix together rapidly. Smooth out as many yeast clumps as possible during this stage. Your dough at this point will be very wet. Dust a work surface with flour. Add a little flour, about 1/4 cup, to the dough in the mixing bowl. This should enable you to scrape the dough together and place it on the floured surface. Add more flour if necessary. Begin kneading the dough on the work surface with your hands and adding Tipo 00 flour or cake flour, 1/4 cup at first, less and less as you proceed. While you are kneading, at first the dough will probably stick to the work surface and your hands. Don't worry. Keep kneading and adding more flour. But don't lose patience and add too much. Add slowly. The goal is to create dough that is just past sticky; in fact, when it is finished, it should be threatening to stick to the work surface. You may even want to work with a spatula to remove the dough from the surface if it sticks slightly. All-together, kneading time should be about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, silky, and just past stickiness. Do not end up with very dry, very stable dough. Lightly oil the bottom of a large bowl with the olive oil. Form the dough into a ball. Place the dough in the bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a spot that's room temperature, neither warm nor cool. In 2 hours or so, the dough should double in size. Cut the dough into 4 quarters. Place 1 quarter on a floured surface, pulling it gently into a round as you place it on the surface. Your goal is a round pizza that is 6 to 7 inches in diameter, approximately 1/4-inch thick, except at the rim where it should be about 3/8 inch thick. Use one of the following means to achieve this: * Pull it from the outer edges until the desired shape is reached. * Working it with your fingertips, push toward the rim, until the center is 1/4 inch thick and the rim is 3/8 inch thick. * Do it pizzeria style by placing the dough on your 2 fists, and revolving it on your fists until it has widened to the desired shape (be careful not to tear the dough at the center). * Use these techniques in combination.
• Do not roll your dough out. Don't worry if your pizza isn't perfectly round; there's much to be said for rusticity. If your pizza doesn't have much of a rim, use your fingertips to crimp the dough and build a small one around the circumference; this is called the cornicione. If your pizza dough has a tear in it, transplant a small piece of dough, smoothing it in. Run a wide spatula under the pizza to make sure you'll be able to move it easily off the surface later; add extra flour underneath if it's sticking. Repeat this process until all 4 pizzas are shaped. Place towels loosely over the pizzas as soon as they're shaped. Let each pizza rest for at least 10 minutes and up to 60 minutes before cooking. The pizzas should puff very slightly.

PIZZA WITH FRESH TOMATOES AND BASIL

Steps:

• Position 1 oven rack in the center and the second rack on the bottom of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Sprinkle the cornmeal over 2 rimless baking sheets. Roll out each piece of Pizza Dough into a 10 to 11-inch-diameter round. Transfer 1 dough to each prepared baking sheet.
• Drizzle 2 teaspoons of oil over each Pizza Dough. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the Pizza Dough, dividing equaling and leaving a 1-inch border around each pizza. Arrange the tomato slices in a single layer over the cheese. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Arrange basil leaves on top, drizzle with a little more olive oil and sprinkle garlic all over. Bake the pizzas until the crusts are crisp and brown on the bottom and the cheese is melted on top, about 15 minutes. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil over each pizza. Sprinkle with basil for garnish and salt. Cut the pizza into wedges and serve immediately.
• Mix the warm water and yeast in a small bowl to blend. Let stand until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor to blend. Blend in the oil. With the machine running, add the yeast mixture and blend just until the dough forms. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draft-free area until the dough doubles in volume, about 1 hour. Punch the down dough and divide into 2 equal balls. (The dough can be used immediately or stored airtight in the refrigerator for 1 day.)

FABULOUS FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, proof the yeast by combining it with the warm water and sugar. Stir gently to dissolve. Let stand 3 minutes until foam appears. Turn mixer on low and slowly add the flour to the bowl. Dissolve salt in 2 tablespoons of water and add it to the mixture. Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium. Stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Mix until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary.
• Turn the dough out onto a work surface and fold over itself a few times. Form the dough into a round and place in an oiled bowl, turn to coat the entire ball with oil so it doesn't form a skin. Cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and let rise over a gas pilot light on the stovetop or other warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
• Coat a sheet pan with a little olive oil and corn meal. Once the dough is doubled and domed, turn it out onto the counter. Roll and stretch the dough out to an oblong shape about 1/2-inch thick. Lay the flattened dough on the pan and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, coat a small saute pan with olive oil, add the onion, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes until the onions caramelize. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Uncover the dough and dimple with your fingertips. Brush the surface with more olive oil and then add caramelized onions, garlic, olives, cheese, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Bake on the bottom rack for 15 to 20 minutes.

FOCACCIA PIZZA

Steps:

• For the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, yeast and salt. Make a small well in the center and then add 2 tablespoons oil and the water. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low until combined. Remove the dough to a flour-dusted work surface and knead for a few minutes until shiny and smooth.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Remove the dough from the bowl and gently punch it down. Coat a 10-inch cake pan with 3 tablespoons oil. Place the dough in the pan and poke it all over with your fingers. Cover again with plastic wrap and set aside in warm place until puffy, about 45 minutes.
• For the pizza: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spread the focaccia with the marinara sauce, then scatter with the meatballs. Tear the mozzarella slices and scatter them over the meatballs. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 5 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown and bubbling and the crust is golden.

FRESH MOZZARELLA, BASIL, TOMATO FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Thaw and allow frozen pizza dough to rest.
• Balsamic Glaze: Put 1.5 cups aged balsamic vinegar and sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring. When it becomes syrupy, take off heat and put into another dish.
• Chill for 30 minutes.
• Once frozen dough thawed and rested, stretch or roll out dough to be about 1/4 thick in an almost rectangle shape.
• Lay on pizza sheet and brush on 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle all of the dough with garlic salt and the parmesan cheese.
• Bake in a 425 degree oven for 8 minutes.
• Pull out and poke the dough several times with a fork.
• Put back into the oven for an additional 4-5 minutes or until golden brown.
• Slice fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and chop basil.
• Arrange mozzarella and tomatoes on foccacia and sprinkle with lots of fresh basil. Drizzle remaining olive oil over the top. Use extra virgin or any good olive oil.
• Drizzle with Balsamic glaze and serve with extra balsamic glaze for dipping.