Cooking as many of you know is a labor of love in my family and there is no greater gift than passing on the knowledge of family recipes, stories about food and family food legends. Yes, my family has food legends. This past weekend I learned how to make pizza and not only was the experience of being in the kitchen with someone I love amazing, but so was the knowledge that I could carry on this tradition. Sure the event wasn't without mishaps since the words kitchen and me were involved, however they were minor. And they only involved mushrooms that will be stuck on the bottom of the oven from here until eternity and a minor flour explosion...which you all should be use to by now.

This is before the mushrooms ended up on the bottom of the oven

The making of pizza in my family is truly a labor of love...bordering on a religion.  One that takes a full 24-48 hours if done right. Pizza has had a special place in my childhood as it was truly one of the first foods I ate, a comfort food for me all growing up and one that every single member of my family was involved in. My "uncle" opened up Tomaso's when all of them moved to Eureka, which was the first pizza place in Humboldt County. Not only was it a hang out for everyone near and dear to me in my youth, but it was also a place of employment back in the day for everyone I knew and a place that I spent a lot of time hanging out and greeting guests with my big brown eyes and chubby little cheeks (back in the day not now). It was kind of like Cheers as I remember it...the place where everyone was welcome and everyone was known. Sure it was the 70's so I am sure there were other activities going on as well but I was under the age of 5 so let's just say I was in happy oblivion.



Anyway I digress lets go back to pizza this weekend. Although there are many schools of thought this is the way I was taught. And let me just say I learned a few myths about pizza dough that I had been carrying around with me for quite some time. The day before you want pizza you should throw the following ingredients into a Kitchen Aid mixer:


2 1/2 cups flour (we used all purpose but you can use bread flour)
1/4-1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

Using the regular mixing blade blend on low for 5 minutes while slowly adding in 1 1/4 cup water. The water does not have to be warm like I had previously thought and you do not have to dissolve the yeast in the water like I had also thought was necessary.

After 5 minutes put the dough hook on the mixer and blend for another 10 minutes on the 2nd notch of the blender...so low-medium blend.


Take the dough out of the mixer and put it on a floured surface. Gently knead the dough until it is "silky and smooth." And yes you can actually feel it...it feels kind of like silk. Don't add too much flour as you want the dough tacky and you don't want it to be dry.



Put olive oil into a bowl and coat the bowl...there should not be excess oil on the bottom of the bowl so don't get olive oil crazy.

Put the dough in the fridge covered with a damp dish cloth. My Mom had always put her dough in the oven to rise but I learned that she did this to speed up the rising process. The ideal is to give your dough enough time to mature on its own and it will do that in the fridge. The dough should stay in the fridge at least over night.



Take the dough out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking and let it come to room temperature and it will also rise even more during that hour. When you are ready to make your pizza again put it on a lightly floured surface and start working the dough with your fingertips...forming it into a shape...preferably round but if you want a square pizza or one that is shaped like a giraffe knock yourself out.



Once you add your toppings...we just did sauce and cheese and one with mushrooms...you cook the pizza at 525 degrees for 10 min. I also learned that if you are using a pizza stone it should be in the oven and should be heated and you just add the pizza to the stone.

This pizza was truly heaven! Truly a labor of love, an amazing bonding experience and a family tradition that I will definitely duplicate. Cheers!