{"id":1624,"date":"2017-06-26T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T15:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=1624"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:59:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:59:19","slug":"homemade-pizza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/26\/homemade-pizza\/","title":{"rendered":"Homemade Pizza"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 26, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

Before my bread machine it was my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.\u00a0 Before my Kitchen Aid stand mixer it was my hands.\u00a0 I have always enjoyed making bread.<\/p>\n

Junior year in college was when my bead making got started in earnest.\u00a0 That was the year that I lived in the International Residence Project at the University of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 I was notified of my acceptance into the Project, a College House arrangement that occupied two floors of a high-rise dorm, late in my sophomore year.\u00a0 Current and incoming residents of the Project met at a social event where I was introduced to the roommate to whom I had been assigned for the coming school year, Ray Hugh from Georgetown, Guyana.<\/p>\n

Ray and I started hanging out together for the last part of sophomore year and found that we really hit it off.\u00a0 Since we were both staying in Philadelphia for the summer, and since students could not stay in undergraduate dorms during the summer, we did what most undergrads did during the summer.\u00a0 We sublet an apartment in Graduate Towers from graduate students who were not staying in Philadelphia for the summer but who, as graduate students, had year-long leases.<\/p>\n

I had pretty regular hours working in a research lab for the summer but that left evenings and weekends free to explore cooking which Ray and I did together.\u00a0 It quickly became clear that the kitchen in our apartment in the International Residence Project, which we would begin occupying in September, was going to need an upgrade.<\/p>\n

At my request, my father made a five-foot long kitchen counter with a laminate top.\u00a0 There was in integrated pull-out table that would seat two in the regular configuration but four when pulled out.\u00a0 That counter became the epicenter of our cooking universe.\u00a0 Set opposite the Pullman kitchen (three electric burners, an oven, an under-counter refrigerator, and an integrated sink) we had a very efficient kitchen set-up.\u00a0 A deep shelving unit that I made housed equipment and several stacks of plastic milk crates held ingredients for which there otherwise would have been no space.<\/p>\n

I made bread on that counter every week, kneading it by hand.<\/p>\n

I made bread the way my Italian grandmother did.\u00a0 Flour, water, salt, and yeast went into a big bowl.\u00a0 The yeast was not proofed.\u00a0 I mixed the ingredients by hand, adding more flour as needed.\u00a0 Periodically I would rub the inside of the bowl with lard.\u00a0 After enough flour had been added, I would put the dough on the counter and knead it for about ten minutes.\u00a0 The dough would always rise twice, getting punched down and kneaded lightly after each rise, before being put in bread pans for the third and final rise before being baked.<\/p>\n

Decades later I got my first Kitchen Aid stand mixer and started using that to make bread.\u00a0 Good thing, too, because I was starting to have trouble with my joints from all the kneading necessary.<\/p>\n

A few years ago I got my first bread machine, a Zojirushi BB-PAC20.\u00a0 While I have no doubt that bread baked in an oven is better I also have no doubt that we would not eat anywhere as much homemade bread if I had to do all the mixing, rising, shaping, and baking unaided.<\/p>\n

With less than five minutes\u2019 work spent measuring ingredients, I can push a button and have bread a few hours later.\u00a0 And I am completely at peace with the ingredients in my bread.\u00a0 No sugar.\u00a0 No high fructose corn syrup.\u00a0 No dough conditioners.\u00a0 No preservatives.\u00a0 Nothing but flour, water, salt, olive oil and yeast!\u00a0 The bread machine has more than paid for itself in savings.<\/p>\n

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My Zojirushi BB-PAC20 bread machine<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I especially like the dough cycle.\u00a0 As noted in a previous blog post<\/a>, I use the dough cycle to make the dough for my focaccia.\u00a0 A quick final rise after being shaped and the focaccia is ready for the oven.\u00a0 The dough cycle also makes pizza dough in a snap.\u00a0 I like to make it at least one day in advance and allow it to rise in the refrigerator.\u00a0 Two days in advance is\u00a0even better.<\/p>\n

I still pretty much use the same recipe for bread dough that I followed in college though I\u2019ve swapped out the lard for olive oil and modified the directions to suit mechanization instead of hands.\u00a0 (Every now and then, I just get the urge to do it by hand, though!)<\/p>\n

Usually I bake pizza in a wood-burning oven.\u00a0 Since wood-burning ovens are not very common, the pizza featured in this post was baked in a conventional oven.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have a pizza stone since I don\u2019t usually bake pizza in the oven.\u00a0 All the better though, since I know few people who have pizza stones.\u00a0\u00a0 I simply went old school and used heavy aluminum pizza pans.\u00a0 I didn’t even use the convection feature!<\/p>\n

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Our DoughPro wood-burning oven from Australia<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Baking chamber above and fire chamber below<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Until a few years ago I always cooked my pizza sauce.\u00a0 Then I tried uncooked sauce as is often done in Naples and found that I really prefer it.\u00a0 It has a fresher taste and it is really easy to make.\u00a0 (Sorry mom!)<\/p>\n

I usually use tomato puree because I like a smooth sauce but crushed tomatoes work well if you prefer a chunkier sauce.\u00a0 You can also just whizz a can of whole peeled tomatoes in the blender or food processor to whatever degree of chunkiness or smoothness you want.<\/p>\n

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An array of tomato products<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Homemade Pizza<\/h2>\n
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Make the dough at least one day before you plan to bake the pizzas. The dough will benefit from the slow rise in the refrigerator. Two days is even better. Be sure to put the balls of dough in containers that seal well to keep the dough from drying out and that are large enough to hold the dough after it rises. Remove the dough from the refrigerator the morning of the day you plan on making pizza. It will take 3-5 hours to warm up and rise. If you\u2019re not ready to make pizza when the dough has doubled in bulk, just punch it down and allow it to rise again. The dough recipe makes enough for two 16 inch pizzas but the sauce is enough for four. Extra sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Since I make so much bread, I buy dry yeast in bulk. You can substitute one envelop of yeast for the two teaspoons of yeast called for in the recipe. For the sauce, use tomato puree if you prefer a smoother sauce and crushed tomatoes if you prefer a slightly chunkier sauce. In either case, really good tomatoes are called for. Buy genuine San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy, if possible. I find Cento to be a good brand and generally available in the markets in my area.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>40 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>1 day<\/span><\/span> d<\/span> 55 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>2<\/span> pizzas<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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