We grew up with square style Sicilian pizzas that my mom made on cookie sheets and I always remember thinking it tasted like heaven, compared to the Pizza Hut down the road. My mom made her own dough, sauce and topped it with ingredients we liked like pepperoni or sausage, but sometimes she would get a little adventurous. I made her come over not long ago and help us make pizza dough and it reminded me of my very fortunate and very spoiled childhood! The Type 00 flour used is typically used in pizza dough in Italy and is a finer flour than all purpose. My mom believes it is best and because it is from Italy it must be!
Ingredients
4 cups Type 00 flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsps. sea salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsps. olive oil
semolina (optional)
Ingredients for toppings
Mix the ingredients together to form a soft dough.
Let rest for 10 minutes, then knead using the bread hook on your Kitchen Aid mixer for 5 minutes, or by hand for 8 minutes.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover (I use a dry dish towel) and allow it to rise for 2 hours in a warm place. I usually use my cold oven.
Punch the dough to flatten the rise, and divide it into 4 equal sized balls.
Cover the balls of dough and let rest 60 minutes then shape.
To shape your pizza take a ball of dough and press into a rectangular shape.
Preheat oven to 500 F. Lightly flour top and bottom and gently press and pull the dough with your finger tips, turning it often to create a rectangle on a cookie sheet (my mom preps with a dusting of semolina first).
In a pinch, you can use Rao's pizza sauce as a quick and easy alternative to making your own pizza sauce. The pizza's above feature capers, pepperoni, green olives, black olives, and anchovies.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, checking frequently to make sure it doesn't burn!
Top with fresh chopped basil and serve with crushed red pepper like the Sicilians do!
Comments