On Saturday night I was determined to make my own pizza with a pizza stone. It was a little harder than I expected, but it was sure fun! I have always wanted to make my own pizza on a pizza stone to make it taste like true wood fired pizza with the bubbly crust. Nothing really is the same as pizza in Italy, but there are a few places here that come close. Sometimes though, I would like to have my pizza in the comfort of my own home and have whatever toppings I want.
This was my first time with my pizza stone, and I definitely need more practice with it, but below I have listed some of my dos and don'ts of pizza making on a pizza stone!
Also, after racing through The Firm (book version) because I loved it so much and couldn't put it down, I was SO excited to rent the movie on our AppleTV and watch the book in action. What a disappointment. John Grisham is a best selling author for a reason and they totally hacked his work! Switched around the story lines in detrimental ways. Serves them right for getting such terrible reviews and ratings. Seriously, I wish I could erase the whole thing from my mind because it was such a disappointment. If you haven't read the book, you really should. The movie was so awful.
Ugh...thank goodness I had my pizza!!
My Toppings: Tomato Sauce, Mushrooms, Artichoke Hearts, Turkey Meatballs, Black Olives, Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Onion, Pineapple, Shredded Mozzarella and Fresh Herbs from my patio garden. Obviously you can use whatever you want. Yes, I put all that stuff on, I like it that way!
First order of business. Put your pizza stone into your oven when your oven is COLD. Then heat your oven to 450 degrees. Leave it alone and start dealing with the dough.
It is important to have a pizza peel or something like it to make sliding the pizza dough onto the stone as easy as possible. Make sure to sprinkle some flour and cornmeal on the pizza peel first before you put the dough on top. Otherwise it will be so sticky and heavy you will never get it off. Brush the crust with a little olive oil so it gets nice and browned.
After you stretch or roll out the dough onto the peel, put all your toppings on. It is vital that you spread out your toppings, sauce and cheese evenly. Try to not to put too much in the middle of the pizza because it will make the center too heavy and soggy when baking.
Remove the Pizza Stone from the oven using gloves for HIGH temperatures only. Sprinkle some cornmeal onto the stone and gently slide the pizza from your peel to the stone.
Put your stone back into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly!
Things I learned:
-Remember to put the pizza stone in a COLD oven
-Buy fine ground cornmeal
-Do not listen to a guy in the elevator about how good Trader Joe's pizza dough is. I bought the wheat kind and didn't love it. Next time I will make it myself or get some from a pizza place.
-That I am not a professional pizza tosser and next time I should use a rolling pin to get the
dough to the thickness I prefer.
-My husband standing over me directing is not helpful.
Especially when he doesn't know anything about pizza making.
-Making pizza is harder than I thought.
Hope this inspires you to try this out! It really was a lot of fun, even though at times I was a bit frustrated because I wanted it to be perfect. I will have to practice more and I am sure I will eventually get the perfect results. My pizza was still excellent and I am very proud that I didn't burn myself. That pizza stone gets extremely hot so be careful!!
If you have made pizza on a stone, leave me some tips! I am going to try again soon!
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