pizza!

Oh so delicious, pizza from scratch. We made pizzas with Nancy, tried to perfect our pizza dough throwing technique (still needs a LOT of work...).
Okay, I look about 12 years old in this picture. If I didn't have humongous glasses and braces. And my go-to 12-year old outfit: turtleneck, vest, leggings. yesirree hotness.
My favorite pizza was this delightful combo: caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, apple, gorgonzola, mozzarella, parmesan cheese.
Can't go wrong with tradition. Our Margherita pizza = tomato, garlic, fresh mozzarella, basil.
Can't go wrong with very untraditional, either. DESSERT PIZZA! Strawberries, pineapple, chocolate chips, and toasty toasty marshmallows. With a side of strawberry ice cream, thanks to Nancy!

I make the dough from Peter Reinhardt's Artisan Breads Every Day:
5 1/3 cups unbleached bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups + 2 tablespoons water at room temp
2 tablespoons olive oil
Flour or cornmeal for dusting the pizza peel

Combine it all, mix for 1 minute. Rest for 5 min to let the flour hydrate. Then mix for 2-3 more minutes. Dough should be soft and supple, somewhere between tacky and sticky. Spread 1 tsp of olive oil on a work surface and rub your hands in oil too. Stretch and fold the dough from the front to the top, back end to the top, and from each side to the top. Then flip the dough over and tuck it into a ball. Divide into five pieces (recipe makes 5 individual pizzas, about 10 inches across). Form each piece into a ball and put them in a sandwich bag or on a pan. Refrigerate overnight or up to 4 days. Or freeze for months.
About 90 min before baking, stretch and round each piece of dough with oiled hands on a lightly oiled surface. Let them rest at room temp. Preheat your oven and baking stone as high as it will go (ours goes to 450F before smoking and getting crazy). When ready to bake, dust hands and work surface with flour and gently form dough into a disk. Stretch gently until about 10-12 inches across. Dust a pizza peel with flour or cornmeal, place the pizza dough on it, put on the toppings, transfer to baking stone. Bake 5-10 minutes, depending on oven.
Pizza. From scratch. Done. Super easy.