Living In A Local Zone

Checking in with Week 4 of One Local Summer.  This week brought something I’ve been sort-of-kind-of wanting to do, but never really getting myself to do it.  This is making pizza.  I’ve done it before, and I enjoy it – sort of.  I love to make it (or any other kind of bread) but eating it is not a “lets go!” kind of event for me.  Every so often I think, “It’d be nice to have pizza tonight” but then I end up not making it because I figure I don’t want it *that* much, so….

But I decided after several weeks of the above dialogue in my head, that I would go ahead and make it.  Maybe it was all that fresh basil that has lately started to give the garlic greens a run for their money in the ‘king of the garden’ competition that gave me the final push?  I should add, I don’t eat cheese (lactose issues) and lately haven’t been having dairy at all (and am feeling much better for it).  So my pizza is different than the norm.  But it was delicious with fresh basil, chives, green garlic, and tomato sauce.  I also added some zucchini on the top.  My meal was rounded out with a lot of mixed lettuces (arugula, bibb, and Boston) tossed with radishes, fresh peas, and garlic scapes.

Here is the crust “recipe” I used – as I’ve mentioned before, I think, I’m not a big recipe person.  Usually I’ll get a basic idea of the process and the role each ingredient plays, and then fuss with it randomly.   This one is good because, while I do make longer-rise breads regularly, the quick rise on the dough makes it very handy for times when (like I’ve been lately) its hard to make up the mind on whether pizza will or will not be served.  I used only whole-wheat flour this week.  Next time I might experiment with some triticale in there to see if its a lighter dough, nuttier taste, etc.   This one makes a thin crust, very crispy.  I got two 8″-ish pies out of it, but of course this will vary depending on how thin you make the crust.

• 1/3 cup warm water (~120 degrees)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2.5 tsp active dry yeast
• 1.5 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp cornmeal

Mix water, honey, and yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes.  Once frothy, add 1.25 cups of the flour and the salt.  Mix with a spoon until the dough forms and pulls away, and then knead by hand, incorporating the remaining 0.25 cup of flour if needed.  The dough should be smooth, so if a bit more flour or a bit more water is still needed, go for it.  (Here is where the ‘messing around’ comes in)  Knead for 5 minutes.  Cover and let rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes.  Pre-heat oven to 435*F.  Once the dough has risen, turn over onto a floured board, punch down, and roll out into a thin crust.  Put it on the pizza pan/stone of your choice, dust with cornmeal.  Top with toppings/sauce, and bake for 10-12 minutes.  And eat.

Sources: Pizza = whole-wheat flour from Wild Hive Farm; cornmeal from Gray’s Grist Mill; basil, chives, and green garlic from my garden; tomato sauce (all their own ingredients too!) from Waldingfield Farms; zucchini from the farmers’ market last week… trying to think which farmer had it…. um… maybe this will be edited to fill in?  Salad = all ingredients from George Hall Farm.