Friday Night's for Pizza

Delivery 6/26/2012

• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 bunch of cavolo nero (tuscan black kale)
• 1 bunch flat leaf  Italian parsley
• 1 head napa cabbage
• 1 bunch baby/salad turnips
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1 bunch basil
• 2 bunches of garlic scapes
• 3 kohlrabis
• 1 head romaine lettuce
• 1 head red leaf lettuce
• 1 bunch rosemary

Garlic & Herb Pizza Crust

• 3 teaspoons of active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups of warm water
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 cups of bread flour
• one whole bunch of parsley
• one whole bunch of basil
• 4-5 garlic scapes
• one whole bunch rosemary
• 4-5 scallions

Mix together the yeast and water and whisk together until opaque and kind of foamy.  Add in the oil and salt.  Set aside.  Finely chop any and all herbs.  Mix together the two types of flour and the chopped herbs, then pour in the wet ingredients and stir until you have a sticky dough.  Let the dough rise with a piece of stretch wrap and a dish towel over it for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 500.  Prepare any toppings you want to put on the pizza while the oven is heating up.  After the oven reaches 500, put a cookie sheet in for 5-10 minutes. You want everything prepared ahead of time, so that you work quickly when you assemble the pizza.  The faster it gets into the oven, the crispier your crust will be (and everyone loves a crispy pizza crust). 

It's a two person job from here on out.  One of you should start stretching the dough in your hands.  Once it's close to your desired thiness, the other person should take the hot pan out of the oven.  Finish stretching the dough on the hot pan.  You should hear it sizzle a little bit when it hits the metal.  Add your toppings and put back in the oven for about 5 minutes, until any cheese you use is melty and golden brown.

Here are a few topping combinations we like:

1. Classic tomato, mozzerella with fresh basil added after it comes out of the oven.
2. Carmelized onions, fig jam and pancetta
3. Carmelized onions and fontina cheese with fresh arugala added after it comes out of the oven.
4. Pesto, parmaggiano-reggiano and halved cherry tomatos.