Everyone has comfort foods.  My list is long – crazy long.   Mac n cheese, Reuben sandwiches, chocolate milkshakes… it goes on and on.  Hovering in the top however, will always be pizza.  Whether it’s fond memories of my mom and I picking up our usual order from the slummy, but amazing Original Pizza at our local mall or making Totinos frozen shamepies (as I affectionately call them) in college, I have nothing but fond memories of pizza.  During my time studying abroad in Russia, one of my strongest memories is the day I broke down and went to Sbarro to nurse my homesickness with two slices of cheese NY-style pizza on Nevsky Prospect.

I still love frozen pizza and happily eat it probably once a week for dinner (my fav being the Kashi roasted veggie pizza nowadays), but nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to homemade pizza.  The best part about it is how few ingredients you really need, it’s just the time and elbow grease that makes it work, and oh boy is it worth the effort.

I use Lidia Bastianich’s recipe from Lidia’s Italian-American cookbook, one of my favorite Italian resources next to The Silver Spoon.  I also use a variation on her sauce recipe from the same book, and both are total winners.  The big “ugh” a lot of people will give this recipe is you have to let the dough raise overnight or up to 24 hours.  I actually like this because I can prepare it the night before, and my dough is ready and waiting for me when I get home from work the next day.

So let’s get started..

Dough mis en place.

Teaspoon.

Mariylns watch and approve of the activity.

Shiny mess.

Water and dissolved yeast go on…

Shaggy mess.

Doesn’t it look like snow? (10 pts if you catch that reference!)

Spread it out.

Wasted manicure I gave myself yesterday.

Kneading in 3 motions.

Silky, smooth dough.

Look ma, clean hands!  This is a great sign of when your dough comes together – it just takes all the shaggy bits off and incorporates them into the ball.

Perfectly round… really round.

I proof my dough in the microwave… something I picked up somewhere.  If you microwave a warm, damp kitchen towel for 30 seconds and then put your dough in it helps rise.

Post hour-rise.

Oil meets pan. Please ignore how hideous my sheet pans are.

Getting all suited up for the fridge sleep.

Nighty night.

Until tomorrow…

Pizza Dough

Adapted for altitude from Lidia Bastianich’s recipe in “Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen”

• Scant 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, and more as needed
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• Olive oil

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a measuring cup and rest until dissolved.

Toss the flour and salt together in a large bowl and stir into the dissolved yeast/water until you get a shaggy mass.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn the dough to coat all sides with oil, and cover with a damp cloth. Set the bowl in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and place the ball on a lightly oiled baking sheet.  Refrigerate until doubled in size, 12-24 hours.

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