Homemade Pizza

My first job was at a very busy pizza restaurant in Wilmington, CA, where I assembled pizzas, sliced and chopped ingredients, wiped tables with dirty rags, and spent endless hours overstuffing the napkin holders. The work was tiring, back breaking, low paying and had zero sex appeal, but it was a paycheck which afforded me such luxuries as MC Hammer cassette tapes, Reebok Pump shoes, and 89 cents/gallon unleaded fuel for my '84 Datsun.

Little did I know that this job would--some 18 years later--spark a passionate interest in crafting artisan pizzas from scratch using home-made dough, organic vegetables, and nitrate-free cured meats. Nowadays, it's weekly ritual I undertake and I take it very seriously. Well maybe not that seriously, but it is something I take pride in, knowing that the end result will be a very satisfying dinner and enough leftovers for several days.

Making pizza at home is a bit time-consuming but it's not difficult and is very rewarding provided you follow some basic rules.

Dough tossed and stretched, ready for saucing.

Let's start the dough. The recipe I've been using for the past year or so is from Tyler Florence, the Food Network star, and calls for flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil. There are a variety of flours on the market, but the one I overwhelmingly prefer is King Arthur's Bread Flour, which you can find at Whole Foods or Ralph's Fresh Fare. It's a few bucks more that other brands, but the dough will have a better rise and texture. Also, don't use tap water; use bottled water or filtered water--this is a rather important detail because water typically comprises 1/4 of the dough ingredients, and you don't want city tap water to be that 1/4 makeup.

After letting the dough rise, you can place it in the fridge overnight, just be sure to take it out 2-3 hours before you start prepping. As for dough tossing and stretching, this takes practice and your first pizza doughs will probably resemble football shapes with holes in them. Sorry, but there's no other way around this other than to practice stretching/turning/tossing.

With some practice though, you'll get nice round-ish shapes with an even thickness center to edge.

Thick-sliced tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, Pecorino Romano

Small pizza with pepperoni from Whole Foods (nitrate-free)

I cook my pizzas on a pizza stone in a 500-degree oven that's been preheated for at least 30 minutes. The pizza stone, which I picked up at Surfa's in Culver City, provides for a crispy, evenly cooked crust with a soft, chewy middle section.

Just out of the oven. Perfect, crispy crust.

The finished pair. The metal peel on the left is from the pizza parlor where I first worked. The handle broke off during an insanely busy night, and the owner allowed me to keep the peel.

When finished, you'll have pizza cooked with fresh ingredients and that isn't greasy like at so many pizza places. It will taste so much better with intense flavor and texture that can only come from a homemade pizza pie.