blogwaffe

Inspired by Emily, we have, from the kitchen of ChefWaffe, a food blog.

Unlike her typical fare (such as Spinach, Peach and Walnut Salad and Winter Panzanella), the subject of my first entry is pizza. And fried. Fried Pizza. I think that pretty much sums up the differences between our respective levels of gastronomic health and culinary prowess.

I saw this Mark Bittman recipe for the first time over a year ago when it was published in the New York Times (Recipe: Pan-Fried Pizza and A Basic Pie: No Oven Required), and have been meaning to try it for a while. Last night I finally took the plunge.

Pan-Fried Pizza from Mark Bittman

• 2 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more as needed
• 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for cooking
• About 2 cups any light, fresh tomato sauce, warmed
• Sliced mozzarella to taste
• Salt and black pepper
• Prosciutto slices and basil leaves for topping (optional)

Combine flour, yeast and salt in a food processor. Turn machine on and add 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons oil through feed tube. Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water, a tablespoon or so at a time, until mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. (If mixture becomes too sticky, add flour a tablespoon at a time.)

Put one tablespoon olive oil in a bowl and turn dough ball in it. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. When dough is ready, re-form into a ball and divide it into 4 pieces; roll each piece into a ball. Place each piece on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rest until each puffs slightly, about 20 minutes.

When ready to cook, press one ball into about a 10-inch round. Use a little flour, if needed, to prevent sticking and a rolling pin, if desired. Film a 10-inch skillet with olive oil and turn heat to medium. When oil shimmers, put dough in pan and adjust heat so it browns evenly without burning. (If dough puffs up unevenly in spots, push bubbles down.)

Browns in ~3 minutes. Dough will be “quite firm, almost stiff, and browned on the bottom” when ready to turn.

Turn dough, then top browned side with tomato sauce, cheese, a bit of salt and pepper, and, if you like, prosciutto and/or basil leaves. If top is now heavily laden, cover pan and continue cooking, or run it under broiler, just until toppings become hot. With only a couple of toppings, just cook until bottom browns. Repeat with remaining dough; serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Serves 4.

Rather than the classy toppings called for by the recipe, we went a little more lowbrow. We made a pepperoni and mushroom pizza for Michelle and a ham and green pepper pie for myself.

The recipe is really easy (if ChefWaffe can cook, so can you!) even without a food processor; I just mixed and kneaded it all by hand adding 2 tablespoons of water beyond the initial half cup to get to the right consistency. I didn’t let the dough rise enough, so it wasn’t as poofy as it was supposed to be, but the end result was still totally delicious.

We used half of the dough for dinner (two pizzas), and the other half saved well enough in the fridge to be equally delicious for lunch the next day.