“Homemade” Pizza a la The Kid

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It was a long weekend in the Philippines, so we headed out of town for a few days, hence the relative quiet on the blog. Despite the dreary, grey monsoon weather in Manila, we managed to get a day and half of brilliant sunshine at the beach, just a few hours away, with just a few spectacular thunderstorms in the late afternoon and early evenings! This was a totally relaxed weekend, and we didn’t even focus much on food… Just a few good books and magazines and a whole lot of lazing about. But one evening The Kid had a hankering for pizza, so we rummaged around our provisions and managed to make this one…

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I have made pizza dough from scratch before, but frankly, it can be a bit of a pain in the neck. I rarely find the “00” Italian flour that I like to use, then you need some corn meal to spread under the pizza. Then you have to worry about the humidity during the rainy season and the effort takes, well, some effort. So we don’t do it often. And I certainly wasn’t planning to make pizza dough from scratch on a lazy weekend… So thank goodness the Kid likes to take “homemade” pizza to school for her baon or for an afternoon snack at home, because we had some pre-made, pre-baked frozen pizza doughs on hand… and you know what? They aren’t half bad at all! We used these “Letizza” brand of pizza crusts imported frozen from Australia… a bit pricey but worth the expense if you are only making a single pizza at home…

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The Kid, who will soon change her name officially to “The Teen,” made some basic tomato sauce then slathered that onto the purchased dough, and added some sauteed sliced onions and lots of cheese to her half of the pizza, while Mrs. MM and I added some sausage meat as well. The entire pizza was smothered in mozzarella and slipped onto a pizza stone in a 450-500 degree F oven with a convection fan on. This was the perfect time to make use of the lonely baking stone and pizza peel (the wooden paddle that is PERFECT for placing the uncooked pizza onto the baking stone and later removing it)…

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Bake for some 10-12 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and starting to brown and remove. Slice with a pizza cutter while hot and enjoy! This was a very good homemade pizza. Nice firm crust that wasn’t burned (some homemade crusts remain a little soggy) and lots of toppings to go around. Easy peasy.

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38 Responses

  1. Hi MM! Yes, it takes effort to make pizza dough from scratch. I buy my “00” from Shopwise. I saw some also at Makati Supermart but shopwise would always have it. Breadflour also makes good dough in my opinion. I’ve done make your own pizza from scratch for my teen’s party and the kids enjoyed it. I divided them into two groups and made them compete for the best pizza! They enjoyed eating their creation too. :)

  2. We make pizza every sunday when the staff is out on their day off. My six yr. old has great fun. Other then making his own little pizza, he loves to bring his little cars into the picture and drive them through a tiny mountain of flour…We use the pizza stone too. What do you think of the pans with the holes?

  3. Where in the Philippines can one buy a pizza baking stone? I think it would be too much to ask someone to buy it abroad and send it over, much more have her carry it in her luggage. Hehehe! I really would like to have one. Thanks!

  4. Homebuddy, they carry them at the baking supply shop at the lower level of Power Plant.

  5. Put the pizza stone on the floor of the oven, minus a rack to insure a crisp, well browned bottom crust.

  6. I can imagine the great tasting cheese, really looks good to eat and my stomach is grumbling already. Gotta eat!!! hehe

  7. When I apprenticed with an italian family run pizzaria abroad, we would “rest” the dough in the walk-in (fridge) for 24-hours before using them. Same with the sauce.

    A common misunderstanding is that Tipo 00 is pizza flour. Make sure you find Tipo 00 pizza flour and not pastry flour. The best Italian pizza flour comes from Molino Caputo, has 11.5%-12.5% gluten

    Bread Flour normally has 12%-15% gluten. Bread flour gives pizza dough a chewier texture and gives the dough the ability to stretch and capture more air bubbles, but if it is handled too roughly can result in a tough pizza.

    All purpose flour (10%-12% gluten) gives you a dough that is lighter and more delicate, which can give you a pizza that is soft, and even saggy.

    Since “00” pizza flour is hard to find (or too expensive) here in Cebu, I make a blend using bread flour and all-purpose flour.

    I also keep a couple of my par-baked dough in the freezer, so that when I or the kids have the urge, we just take them out of the freezer, spread the topping and baked for 10 minutes.

  8. i’ve always bought pizza for my kids and have never tried to make one at home. i think that you’ve inspired me to make one. it’s the first day of school today and i’d surprise my kids by making fresh pizza from home! i already have all the ingredients and the dough will be made through my convection breadmaker. how easy can that be? now i am getting excited. thanks,mm………….

  9. Looks yummy! MM, I’d love for you to try experimenting and making a cracker crust pizza a la Shakey’s. I’ve always wanted to make that but I’ve got idea how.

  10. Instead of buying a pizza stone, you can just go over to your local marble or granite dealer and have them cut a piece that fits your oven floor (with some allowances for each side of course) just make sure that the piece is about 1.5 inches to 2 inches thick.

    you can leave it in there forever and just take off the racks when you want to bake pizza or bread. my marble slab for my 60 inch wide oven cost me about 60 bucks :

  11. I heard or read somewhere you can use unglazed vigan tiles as a pizza stone. Can anyone confirm?

  12. MM, I have used Olive Oil Dough that is in the “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” (the book that I was telling you about) for pizza and it turned out really well and tasty. As with their other bread recipes, all you need to do is mix the ingredients, let it rise for 2 hours, use it (or refrigerate/freeze for later use) – no need to knead! I hope you can find that book in the Philippines.

  13. If pizza stone is not readily accessible to where you are ladies, you can still bake pizza utilizing what you have in your pantry or cupboard…do you have a heavy duty cookie sheet? You might not be able to bake a 14 inch pizza, but still, you’d be able to make a 10 inch pizza. …crank your oven to 450 degrees …put the baking or cookie sheet on the bottom third of your oven. Preheat your oven about 30 minutes to let the cookie sheet really get hot….then slide the pizza you’ve made preferably on parchment ….no parchment? then dust the cookie sheet with cornmeal. …Also, if you don’t have bread flour or pizza flour but only have all-purpose flour, try adding gluten flour…let’s say for every 2 1/2 to 3 cups of all-purpose flour, add gluten flour (available at health or natural food stores..but most grocery stores carry it nowadays) about 3 to 5 tablespoons. It increases the gluten content of the all purpose flour giving it the chewy texture of pizza….It can be quite pricey and a good substitute would be bread flour…same amount as the gluten flour…And to give it the same texture as those pizzas you can buy in big slices, I add about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour too…..Just like Artisan Chocolatier said, a blend would be a good substitute. Another thing he said,is to let the dough rest overnight….I also make my dough the night before punching it twice sometimes while chilling. This is to allow the gluten to relax making the dough more manageable….easier to roll out and make it really thin as my boys like it thin and a bit crisp. For toppings, we are not tomato sauce people…we are more minimalistic when it comes to toppings: our favorite….the top just simply brushed with olive oil, smeared with roasted garlic, some caramelized onions and a handful of parmesan and mozzarella, and sauteed shitaki or CHANTERELLES …Yup, chanterelles will be popping out real soon!..and offf to the woods I go!!!!

  14. holy stove…… ok.. am in love with your stove.wow.now if u tell me u have an indoor lechon pit encased in glass…. ive died and gone to heaven…heheh sweet stove.

  15. Artisian, Just curious, what’s the temp in a walk in fridge? I imagine, it’s not quite like a home fridge. At home, we let the dough rest about an hour.

  16. artisan chocolatier, im curious also as to your apprenticeship experience of chilling the dough overnight…will it not overise/over proofed? were you making a super thin crust then or pan-pizza type? or does it matter? thanks..

  17. Hi! I watch Good Eats and saw their episode on Pizza. The pizza needs a flat surface that can store a lot of heat and release it evenly so that the crust will become crunchy and not soggy in the middle. Alton Brown the host explained that any material that can do this will be good enough to be used as a substitute for a pizza stone. Unglazed tiles are perfect since they are porous as well and will help wick away moisture and are usually not as expensive as pizza stones. The pizza stone, or what ever you use as a substitute can be left in the oven, since it stores and releases the heat evenly, will actually make your oven more efficient. Don’t forget to preheat your ovens when making pizza so that the Pizza stone will be able to do its job.

    P.S. Nice stove, I envy you so much MM.

  18. What a coincidence! I just made some pizza here at home in Leyte. Made the dough myself … and, for the first time ever, it came out well! I even tossed it!

    Your pizza looks amazing … definitely envious of the ingredients you have there in Cebu. Good sausage, oh my!

  19. Michelle, food safety rules require us to keep food at 41F/5C or below. So the walk-in is usually set in the upper 30’s(F) to compensate for foot traffic in and out of the chiller.

    Adrianmario, we chill both yeast and non-yeast dough overnight to allow the dough to relax and develop flavor. The non-yeast dough is for thin crust and relaxing it allows us to stretch it thin. Resting the yeast dough allows it to develop flavor. The cold temp slows the yeast activity. The dough is shape into a ball while in the chiller.

    Risa, yes, you can use any unglazed tile (like vigan) as a stone. Just make sure you cure it before use.

  20. Great bonding moment, MM!
    By the way may we know what stove brand was used in the photo?
    I also can’t seem to stop looking at it!

  21. lee…hahaha. domestic diva, scroll up on the comments for a link to the stove post. Artisan and others, yes, put the dough in the fridge overnight. I do a similar thing with ensaimada and other bread doughs and it works brilliantly. James, made the pizza in Batangas sea shore… didn’t have good Italian sausage so we broke apart breakfast sausages and it worked quite well! :) Michelle, I think wood burning stove is best, then a really hot commercial oven, then a home gas oven and last an electric oven… but that is just my opinion. Alan et al. Yes, a ceramic piece such as a tile would work well. In this case, I did NOT put the stone on the floor of the oven because the dough was pre-baked. I wanted to focus on the toppings gurgling nicely, so I opted to put the stone nearer the convection fan. It worked well as the dough was crisp and the toppings nicely caramelized. But for a dough from scratch, use the oven floor for the best results. ECC, thanks for the tip, haven’t seen the book, but will keep a lookout for it. Risa, yes tiles will work. Bettyq, thanks again for the brilliant tips!

  22. re set too high or are too full. My mother and I had endless arguments about this. You have to figure 10 cubic feet of fridge space per person, even counting the help. More if you need to freeze a substantial amount. Every time you open the door the temp. rises about 5-10 degrees and it takes half an hour to get it back down. And get frost free frezers. Keep your fridge at about 34F, just slightly above freezing. Veggies and fruit should unfortunately be stored above 45 F so it helps to have 2 fridges if you have a high volume kitchen.

  23. Sorry, above comment began with fridges in the Phil are often set too high or are too full.

  24. Correction: The appropriate estimate is five cubic feet of fridge space per person and not ten as mentiuoned above. So that’s about 4 persons per 20 cubic foot fridge. The cooler the fridge the longer the shelf life of meat and cooked food. My mother could have avoided a lot of stomach aches if she had followed this rule of thumb instead of maintaining a fridge that was 50 F. at it’s coldest and 4 inches of ice in the freezer.

  25. I simply use tortilla flat bread for extra thin crust effect, it’s a big hit here in my house. I also found out that its easy to crumble the solid block of cheese, thawed for a bit after it came from the freezer. C’mon let’s all have a big pizza party soon.

  26. Had to go through the comments 3x before I found the link to your stove.. my dream stove! I knew it, MM.. as soon as the link opened… voila! A Viking!

    I feel a pang of envy coming up — haha!

  27. MM, we always use our pizza stone we bought from Gourdo’s but for the pizza peel, can you please tell me where you got it here, in case you did buy it here in the Philippines? My husband has been looking for a pizza peel for ages, so we would really appreciate it if you can point us in the right direction. =)

  28. Good job “The Teen”!!! I’d been wanting to experiment and try my hand on making homemade pizza dough, it sounds easy to make but quite complicated at the same time, atleast i know where to buy the ready-made pizza dough at my local grocer..I guess i should buy a pizza stone, it’s on sale at Benix for $10.

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