Margherita Pizza on Honey Wheat Dough

Homemade pizza is one of my favorite dinners. We love to make this variety in the fall, when the basil and tomatoes are ripe in our garden. You'll love this dough. The whole wheat flour gives it a great flavor, and the chewy texture......mmmmmmm......

Invest in a pizza stone* and peel. These two tools will help you turn your kitchen into a pizzeria.

Margherita Pizza

one recipe pizza dough (this will make one large, thick crust pizza, or two thin crusts)
1-2 large, garden tomatoes, thinly sliced (we used a delicious Black Krim tomato...grown in our garden, from one of Matt's seedlings)
Fresh Basil (we cut some thinly and cooked it on the pizza, then garnished with fresh leaves after removing it from the oven)
Fresh Mozzarella, sliced as thick as you want it (find it packed in water. We also topped the whole pizza with a little of the shredded variety)
Balsamic Reduction (this stuff is excellent on pastas and veggies as well.)

Honey-Wheat Pizza Dough

from The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook

1 teaspoon yeast

1/2 cup + 1 teaspoon warm water (105-110 degrees F)

1 cup bread flour (can use all-purpose in a pinch)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

5 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus 1 teaspoon for coating
Cornmeal, for dusting

Dissolve the yeast in the water and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

If using an upright mixer, use the mixing paddle attachment because the batch size is too small for the dough hook to be effective (I tripled the recipe to serve a crowd, so I used the dough hook). Add the flours, honey, salt and 1 T olive oil. Mix gradually using the lowest 2 speeds. Mix for 2 to 3 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. If mixing by hand, place the dry ingredients in a 4- to 6- quart mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the liquids (reserving the 1 teaspoon olive oil). Use a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients. Once initial mixing is done, you can lightly oil your hands and begin kneading the dough. Knead for five minutes. When done, the dough should be slightly tacky (barely beyond sticking to your hands).

Lightly oil the dough ball and the interior of a 1-quart glass bowl. Place the dough ball in the bowl and seal the bowl with clear food wrap. Set aside at room temperature (70-80 degrees F) and allow to rise until double in bulk ; about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

The dough can be used at this point, but it will not be that wonderful, chewy, flavorful dough that it will later become. Punch down the dough, re-form a nice round ball and return it to the same bowl. Cover again with clear wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

About 2 hours before you are ready to assemble your pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Use a sharp knife to divide the dough into two equal portions. Roll the smaller doughs into round balls on a smooth, clean surface, being sure to seal any holes.

Place the newly formed dough balls in a glass casserole dish, spaced far enough apart to allow for each to double in size. Seal the top of the dish with clear plastic wrap. Set aside at room temperature until the dough balls have doubled in size (about two hours).

About one hour before you assemble your pizza, put your stone in the COLD oven and preheat to 400 degrees. If you put your room temperature pizza stone into a hot oven, it will probably crack.

To form the dough, sprinkle flour over a 12-inch by 12-inch smooth surface. Use your hand or a rolling pin to press the dough down, and roll or stretch into a 9-inch circle. Pinch the edges to form a lip. If you are adventurous, you can try the "toss and stretch".

Dust both your pizza stone (it's heating in the oven by now) and your peel with cornmeal.
Put your pizza dough on the peel and pierce all over with a fork (this will prevent those huge bubbles from forming). Shake the dough on the peel back and forth just to make sure that you have enough cornmeal. The dough should slide around on the peel. If you don't have enough cornmeal, the dough will not slide and will be a mess when trying to get it into the oven after you have already put all of the toppings on.

Arrange tomato slices and mozzarella over dough. Slide the pizza onto the stone. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is done (you may need to use your peel to peek at the underside or rotate) and the cheese just begins to brown. Remove from oven using the peel. Drizzle with balsamic reduction, garnish with fresh basil, cut and ENJOY!

*I use my pizza stone for more than just pizza.