theLeif.org

I haven't mentionned pizza in a while. Two weeks ago, I wanted to step up my game. It's taken me three tries, but I think I'm narrowing in on the Pizza Land I want to be in. The key is to crank the oven.

I read several forums and blogs about method and ingredients. I unfortunately don't readily have the two most recommended flours: 00 flour and semolina flour. If you want to do it right, they say to use 00 flour and add a little semolina for some color. And with all bread products, the dough really needs to be sitting around for at least a day before baking. Some day, I'll grow some wild, local yeast for a starter, but for now I use mutant yeast in a jar.

I didn't measure the flour, so I leave out the measurements here. Also, I started with water, yeast, and some flour in a bowl one day and added the rest the next morning.

• 1 c. water
• 1 tsp. yeast
• 1 tsp. salt
• oat flour
• whole red wheat flour
• spelt flour
• brown rice flour
• 2 tbsp. gluten flour

I think those are the flours I used. They tend to change each week depending on how I feel. And no oil or sugars in the mix.

On bake night, I preheated the oven for 45 minutes to an hour at 450°F. The ingredients were prepped. In this week's case, the onions were sautéed with salt, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary. These were added, then faux cheese, pear, and oiled and salted kale. I tore of a square of my newly acquired parchment paper and laid it on a pizza peel. I clawed the dough out of the bowl and sorta flattened it out in my hands, coating it with slept flour. I stretched it out a bit because I'm not good at tossing just yet. Then I placed it on the parchment paper and stretched it out by hand some more. I made it somewhat circular.

Ingredients went on top. Then I did a trick I read about: I brushed olive oil around the crust rim. I slid the paper off the peel onto my baking stone and baked for about 15 minutes.

This crust is definitely the next generation in my rise to whole-grain pizza dominance. I still need to work on my flour formulation and probably increase the oven temperature some more, but I'm pleased.