March 13, 2011

HB Eats: Pizza--two ways!

If you are looking for affordable and tasty thin crust pizza in NYC the choices can seem endless. A favorite of mine in Manhattan is served at Mario Batali’s Otto on 8th street. Otto is usually packed, especially on the weekends, so go early and grab some wine while you wait. The fresh pasta there is also worth a try! I have fond memories of the spaghetti alla carbonara. :)



If you want pizza at home instead, that can be easy too. Whole Foods has a selection of pre-made pizza dough, and this week my friends and I used the multi-grain variety to whip up some homemade pies. The batch of dough we got was a bit difficult to roll, but it flattened out after a little elbow grease and flour.  From what I read since then, it also helps to bring the dough to room temperature and let it rise for a while before rolling. This was the first time I used a pizza stone which was cool, but a baking sheet works just fine as well. Once the dough was ready, we put it in the oven for about 8 minutes at 350 before added the toppings, and then carefully filled the dough with sauce, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.  It took our pizza at least 30 minutes to bake, until the cheese was melted and the crust was golden brown, but you can speed up the process by upping the temp if the recipe allows. As you can tell from the pictures, our styling needs some work—it’s more modern than traditional-- but it tasted great and we were proud of our work!  Check out easy these recipes from The Foodinista and Blue Kitchen for more inspiration.







3 comments:

BLT said...

You have a pizza stone? I'm very curious how the no-knead bread would come out on that, not to mention how some slightly-kneaded home made pizza dough would work.

The Hungry Bee said...

BLT,

Thanks for your comment! Unfortunately it was my friend's pizza stone and not mine that we used for the pizza. I can try and find out where she got it and let you know!

I've read that pizza stones help absorb the humidity from the pizza or bread, making it crispier, and distribute the heat evenly. I tend to like my bread or crust on the softer side, but I must say that the pizza stone pizza had a nice crisp to it without burning, which can be an issue on a baking sheet.

I was trying to research the best pizza stones out there, but it seems to be a highly debated topic! I thought this was the most interesting idea for creating your own:

(cut and paste get the whole link):
http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2010/02/how-to-make-a-3-dollar-piz
za-stone.html

But I may just go with a more straight-forward version like the Old Stone Oven:

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Stone-Oven-4467-14-Inch/dp/B0000E1FDA .

Now I"m craving pizza again. Happy baking!

HB

The Hungry Bee said...

BLT,

I finally found out where my friend's pizza stone was from, Bed, Bath and Beyond!

HB

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