Japexican On the GO!: Let's Talk Pizza!

I have taken a long time to put this recipe in the blog, for 2 reasons mainly: 1) I wanted to come up with the best simple recipe for it 2) I am lazy as fuck… Hahaha… There are some challenges that every aspiring pizza maker must overcome (like not overdoing the sauce and go thinner on their dough) but they are easy. The point is that home made pizza, even if it is not perfect or authentic (whatever that means) it will taste considerably better than your usual take out and will be infinitely superior to your frozen pizza. So, don’t be afraid, it will be easy and don't be lazy, it will take you little to no time.

Get your ass off the couch and get ready. Once the pizzas are done, you can sit back and relax and continue binge watching Netflix, but this time, with awesome pizzas to keep you company and making your belly feel all fuzzy and amazing!

So, here is my master Pizza Recipe, from here you can derive to whatever you want, red sauce, white sauce, cream, you can use the same dough to make Focaccia and some beautiful Panini with it, and once you understand how kneading and proving the dough is all about you will be able to get your incursion into basic bread making. Holy fuck, I'm initiating into a world of yummy thing. You are welcome!

Seriously, how awesome does that look?

I'm gonna divide things into three parts, the dough, the sauce and the toppings. The only essential part of this all is the dough. Anything else, well, you can do whatever tickles your fancy. You can be as conservative or as groundbreaking as you want. That is the beauty of Pizza, it is a vehicle to transform your wildest dreams into culinary perfection. Much like the Italian version of a Mexican Taco (wow!, two inaccurate comments in one; I am out doing myself). Go nuts!

You will need:

Dough:

Flour: 1 Kg should give you enough to make 6 to 8 medium sized thin crust pizzas. You are looking for strong flour. Bread flour works best.
Yeast: 15 grs or two of those standard dry yeast packets. You can also use fresh yeast. Your choice. I honestly don't see much difference in either but some people do. Try.
Sugar: A teaspoon. It will not really make your dough sweet, you need this to feed the little animals that conform the yeast and slowly bring them back to life. This is what will make your dough nice, light and potentially fluffy.
Salt and Pepper: Duh!
Olive Oil: You want good olive oil, a few good dashes from the bottle.
Water: 600 ml approx. of luke warm water (not too cold or the yeast won't wake up, not too hot or it will die). You will need a bit more or a bit less, depending on the humidity of your city, the altitude and other factors. Don't worry.

Flour, yeast, salt, sugar and oil. You don't need more.

Sauce

In spite of the old age debate there are no rules when it comes to pizza, or when it comes to what should be on it. I've had pizza in many countries and I have always been amazed of the things that can work with this. This recipe will tell you how to make a simple tomato sauce, but you can do whatever, sauces for pizza could include but are not limited to: White béchamel, cream, lots of extra virgin olive oil, hollandaise, Bbq sauce, Thai sweet chili sauce, hoisin, hell I once tried an awesome pizza that had a vegemite based sauce. So, don’t be a purist and experiment.

Tomatoes: Six to eight medium sized tomatoes.
Onion: One medium sized sweet onion.
Garlic: A couple of big garlic cloves.
Salt and Pepper: Duh!
Olive Oil: Don’t' go extra virgin. Normal cooking olive oil will do just fine.
Oregano: Now, most people would tell you to use basil for your basic tomato sauce, for me, and for pizzas I always prefer the deep taste of dry oregano. This is to taste, but a good 'old pinch should do the trick.

Simplicity at its best. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano.

Toppings

It goes without saying that you could even be more liberal with the toppings. But this time I made three of my favorites. Seriously, go nuts and experiment.

Cold Cuts: An all time classic. But don't go just for your typical Salami only.

Aged Peppered Salami
Spanish Chorizo
Manchego Cheese

Mushrooms: Good for any of your vegetarian friends.

Mushrooms
Onions
Fresh Mozzarella

Tuna and Feta: This one makes me so happy every time.

Tin Tuna
Feta Cheese
Arugula
Olive Oil

Sausage and Potato: This might seem odd but it is an all time classic in Italy. Make it, taste it and you will see why.

Some of your favorite sausages without the skin and made into little balls.
Potatoes, you could boil them and slice them or just grate them raw and let them cook with your pizza.
Emmental Cheese

You do what you want with your toppings.

Let's get to it!

Saucing it:

Roughly chop the onions, garlic and onion.
Heat up the olive oil in a sauce pan.
Sautee the onion and garlic until they start getting a bit transparent.

Add the tomatoes and cook for around 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
You can now blend it to make a smooth sauce or leave it as is for a more chunky version (I prefer the chunky one)
If you blended the sauce, return it to the pan and add the oregano and check for salt and pepper. (Do the same if you left it chunky) leave it simmering for a couple more minutes.
Let it rest until it gets cold-ish (hot sauce will melt your dough and you will end up with a fucking mess)

The dough:

Take your flour and mix in a couple of pinches of salt and pepper. Form a little volcano with a big well in the middle.
Add a cup of water to the well. Dissolve the teaspoon of sugar and the yeast packets. Let it rest for a while. After around 10-15 minutes you will see how it bubbles up and starts forming a thin foam on the surface of the water. Now it is ready to begin.

Add some dashes of olive oil and take a fork. You will dissolve the flour into the liquid, little by little moving the fork in circles and incorporating the flour. It will start thickening and eventually it will look like a very moist and sticky dough.
Now it is time to collapse the volcano in and finish working the flour in. You might need some extra water here, so add accordingly.
Once it is all integrated it is time to knead. Grabbing the dough with one hand and stretching and reincorporating the dough with the other seems to work best. I like pushing away from me with the back of my hand and then finishing with some deep circular motions. You are looking to get a springy, semi-moist and elastic dough. If you put your finger in and the dough springs back a little bit, it is ready.
Make a ball and coat it with oil. Put it in a bowl and cover with a moist towel or some cling film. Leave it to rest in a warm place until it doubles in size. I've found that the microwave or the oven (OFF) are some of the best places for this part. It will take around 1 hr. Go drink some beer in the meantime.
Punch a hole in the dough and put it on your table. You can now separate it into 6-8 little balls and put them on a tray lined with baking paper. Leave them like these for an extra half an hour. This extra rising will give your pizza an awesome smooth texture.

Now put it together:

Take one of those dough balls and carefully either roll it out or stretch it with your hands until you reach a thin and consistent layer of dough.
Now, this is optional but I like to do it when I bake in a normal household oven. Put it in the baking tray, drizzle a bit of olive oil and bake for a minute or so. This will get you thin and crispy pizza every time.
Take some of the sauce, don't over do it, really, a thin layer is enough.
Take your toppings, again don't overcrowd it.
Bake it for 3-4 minutes at 250 until the pizza is crisp and the cheese is oozy.
Take it out, cut it and enjoy, thank me later.

Now, if you end up with some leftover dough and toppings, which is very unlikely as they are so awesome people will eat and eat and eat, but hey, it could happen. Why don't you make some calzones for breakfast later? How you ask… dude, just roll some sauce and pizza toppings in the dough and bake the same way… Photos below for reference if you are afraid you will fuck it up…