Pizza Margherita Pizza!

Photo by Christina Klevorn 2013

I have become obsessed with King Arthur Flour products.  I recently gifted myself several pizza-making items from their catalog.  After getting my oven fixed (having a broken oven almost killed me), I made up this beauty.  Perfect Pizza Blend is a blend of golden durum and KAF unbleached All-Purpose flour, dough conditioner and baking powder.  It makes a nice crust.  Th dough improver is nice--it prevents the dough fron shrinking back, but its not necessary.  The pizza dough flavor is what really makes this recipe stand out, as does the pizza seasoning.  They can be omitted, but the results won't be nearly the same.  A word of warning--this pizza makes a thick, chewy crust.  I'm from St. Louis, where pizza crusts are thin and crispy.  Next time I might make 2 smaller pizzas from this dough and pat the dough thinner.  The crust recipe comes from the KAF catalog.

Crust

3 cups KAF Perfect Pizza Blend
2 tablespoons KAF Easy Roll Dough Improver
4 teaspoons KAF Pizza Dough Flavor
1 tablespoon KAF Pizza Seasoning
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 T olive oil
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

Topping

1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup fresh mozzarella cheese
1 thinly sliced fresh tomat
fresh basil leaves, sliced

To Make the Crust

Mix and knead together all the ingredients until a soft, smooth dough forms.  Let the dough rise, covered for 45-60 min, then refrigerate it for 4 hours or for up to 36 hours.  Hints:  Lightly spray the bowl before adding the dough to rise.  Use the dough hook on your mixer after the ingredients are mixed, or use the dough cycle on a bread machine. Dough takes less time to rise in warmer weather.

To Prepare the Pizza

With slightly greased hands, place the dough onto a lightly greased sheet of parchment and stretch to a rectangle about 15 x 11  inches.  Cover and let the dough rest for 45-60 min.  Hint:  Cover with another sheet of lightly greased parchment.

Place a baking stone in the middle of the oven--with an oven rack above it.  Preheat oven to 450.  Spread tomato sauce onto the dough.  Transfer the pizza and parchment to the hot stone with a peel or a large cookie sheet.  Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, then remove from the oven using the peel or cookie sheet.

Distribute the cheese over the sauce, then top with the tomato slices.  Return to the top oven rack and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned.  Remove from the oven, add the basil and serve hot.

Yield:  1 large pizza

Enjoy!