Recipes

Pizza Dough (Thanks to Rob at traditionaloven.com)

The recipe makes enough dough for 3-4 of 12" to 16" quite large thick pizza bases or 7 to 10 thin bases for crispy pizzas. Give it a go one time and try what we do, we make thinner pizza bases out of this dough, done in the wood burning oven in under 2 minutes and pizza is very nice.
You can try also making your first pizzas in kitchen electric or gas oven but start with less toppings (especially in the center) and with thinner bases - pre-heat your oven to maximum.

Pizza dough recipe

6.7 cups (US) all-purpose flour (29.5 oz)
1/2 ounce active dry yeast - or one tablespoon
2 tbsp brown sugar (optional - works with or without sugar, sugar adds on crisp)
2 teaspoons salt
2.1 cups (US) filtered "tepid" water (16.8 fl oz) - tepid water; mix two parts of cold water to one part boiling water

* Best is to weigh flour on scales in ounces, instead of using volume/cups measure (because if the cup is packed then more flour goes in and the dough gets harder less soft basically - when a cup measure is used it is filled with flour lightly from a sieve). Depending on your flour quality, if you'd like to make the dough less soft - next time add an additional 0.35oz of flour (or wise versa.)

* Best flour to make pizza dough is "flour type 00" used for pizza & pasta. 00 Flour is finer grind therefore it's heavier in weight.

PROCEDURE:

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients first, then add the water. It will appear to be too dry at first. Do not add water. Keep working the dough until it is smooth.
(This requires a little faith but it really works).

2. Let the dough rise once (approx 1 hour). Punch it down and knead again.

3. At this point you may choose to freeze some of the dough. If you do freeze it, be sure to wrap it well and freeze it quickly. With either fresh or thawed dough, let the dough rise a second time for 1 hour.
Best pizza dough is the best when it is a fresh dough, although, when it was waiting on the bottom of a fridge for 24 hours (important). I always make my pizza dough one day ahead of making pizzas.

4. After it has risen, punch it down and use it for your pizza. The dough will rise a little while you put the rest of your pizza toppings on it. Then bake as appropriate for pizza thickness and top pings.

NOTES:

I have tried variations like whole wheat, and just about any flour combination that works for bread works for pizza dough but of course plain - flour type 00 - (zero zero) is the way to go.

RATING:

Difficulty: easy. Time: 20 minutes preparation, 2 hours rising, two times one hour.

Precision: measure the ingredients.


Pizza Toppings (Thanks to Solstice Wood Fired Cafe)

Here are some great idea for pizza topping combinations, these came straight off the the Solstice wood fired cafe menu. Some of them may seem a bit out there at first glance but just try 'em, they are all outstanding.

• Margherita: w/marinara, fresh basil & fresh mozzarella
• Cremini Mushroom: (Hood River Organic) w/goat cheese & thyme
• Siragusa Pear: w/bleu cheese & caramelized Onions
• Country Girl Cherry: w/cherries, chorizo sausage & goat cheese -Named best pizza in Washington by The Food Network Magazine!
• Solstice Roast Chicken: w/cotija, yukon potato, roasted red pepper & pasilla pepper sauce
• BLBB: butternut squash,leeks, bacon & blue cheese
• Solstice Calzone: Italian sausage, caramelized onion, yukon potatoe, fresh herbs, shredded mozzarella & marinara