Sunshine and Olly

by Jonathan Blaustein

It’s healthy to express our creativity in different ways.

Frankly, that’s one of my favorite parts of the creative process: it only gets stale if you let it.

Today, for example, it was a bit harder to push myself to write, as I’ve been in photographer-mode since my big trip last week.

All of the logistics, and planning that go into making a shoot successful, plus the travel, and then the actual photography, it’s quite energy intensive.

Didn’t leave a lot of spare room to think about blogging.

I guess all those intense feelings had outlets, so I’m mostly left with tired.

That said, I’ve got a family to feed, and cooking is one of my favorite forms of creative expression.

I hinted on IG a few weeks ago this post might be coming, so I’m going to share with you the basic precepts of how to make great pizza.

(B/c I busted it out last night.)

Heads up: it does require certain equipment, and lots of trial and error.

---

I can’t help you with amounts, (much,) because my recipe is all about eyeballing things.

But I can share ingredients, steps, and know-how.

The pizza can be broken down into four main categories: The dough, the sauce, the cheese, and the tech.

The Dough

To start on the dough, pour what is probably something like 3 cups of very warm water into a mixing bowl.

Add 1.5 Tb of yeast, and 1.5 Tb of sugar, stir them, and leave them to sit for a few minutes.

Then keep adding flour until the entire mix gets tacky, and then dry to the touch.

I like to use a mixture of AP flour, bread flour, and a bit of whole wheat flour.

This is also the part where you add a nice bit of salt, and a healthy few glugs of extra virgin olive oil.

Knead it a bit, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and leave it for an hour.

Then, punch it down, and repeat the process as many times as you’d like, before cooking. (Meaning, leave it for an hour, punch it down, and then re-knead, adding extra flour as necessary.)

The Sauce

Basic rule of thumb here is that the dough always robs the sauce of some flavor, so make your pizza sauce flavorful as fuck.

I use Cento crushed tomatoes, and throw them in the pan, (with half a can of water,) after I caramelize garlic.

My regular ingredients are sugar, fresh squeezed lime juice, Mexican oregano, chopped fresh tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and chile oil. Plus fresh basil, if you have it. And lately, I’ve taken to adding some tomato paste, and occasionally Kalamata olives.

Go for big flavor, and balance.

The Cheese

I like a mix of Galbani dry mozzarella, which I shred, and packaged fresh mozzarella, which I slice/chop.

If you have Reggiano Parmesan, or Pecorino Romano, go for it. Good ricotta makes a nice topping too.

But if you have the combination of high-end dry and fresh mozzarella, you’re good to go.

The Tech

I have a convection oven that goes up to 550, and this helps. As does a pizza stone, on which I place my pizza pan.

It’s stainless steel, but with air holes, so the heat permeates the pan more easily.

Spray-on olive oil is great for coating the bottom of the pan, and I use a huge, wooden pizza paddle to hold and serve the pizza, once it’s out of the oven.

Bringing it all together

Last night, I tried rolling the dough extra thin, having added more olive oil, and it worked well.

But the process is kind of intuitive.

Roll out the dough, (and throw it around, if you can,) then spoon on the sauce, add the cheese, and chuck it in the oven.

I like to spin it in the oven once, (with tongs,) to help cook evenly.

Then remove from the oven, let it sit for at least 5 minutes, for the cheese to congeal, and slice it up.

Enjoy!

---