Pizza Night: Guest Post from my Mom & Dad

My mom, "Bubbe", is an artist and graphic designer; and she has a very special way of staying connected to my kids.  Several times a week she uses her computer to sketch something interesting going on in her life.  On the "Drawing of the Day" there is a note about the drawing, and often a question that causes the kids to write back or answer on the phone.  Below are yesterday's drawings.  At the bottom you will find my dad's recipe for the pizza dough, followed by my own toppings suggestions.  Happy Anniversary Lala & Zeide!

Dear Adele, Mordechai, and Talia,

Tonight we celebrated Lala and Zeide's wedding anniversary.  Grandpa and I invited them over for dinner.  Grandpa made pizza; four pizza pies to be exact.  This is the story about how grandpa made the pizzas.

First Grandpa got out the electric mixer.  He put flour, water, oil, sugar, yeast, and an egg into the mixer the blend them all together to make the dough.

 Then Grandpa decided that both he and the dough needed a rest.  Grandpa divided the dough into four pieces.  He rolled them into balls, placed them on a pan and let them rest in the refrigerator for several hours.  Grandpa rested in a chair in the living room.

To make the sauce, Grandpa put canned tomatoes, salt and pepper into the blender and blended it all together.

After Lala and Zeide arrived at our house, Grandpa took the balls of dough out of the refrigerator.  He spread them one at a time onto flat, round, pizza screens.

Grandpa spread little dabs of roasted garlic all over the dough, 

followed by a thin layer of red sauce.  






Then he sprinkled grated cheese over the sauce.  



Next he carefully placed sliced mushrooms all over the cheese.

Grandpa placed the pizzas, one at a time, in a very hot oven.  It took only 8 minutes for each to cook.

The cheese was melted and bubbly.  The crust was crisp and crunchy.

Lala, Zeide, Grandpa and I all enjoyed eating the pizza very much.

Love,

Bubbe





Makes four 12" pizzas:

1 lb (0.45 kg) flour

My grandfather, Zeide, enjoying his Pizza

9 oz. (266 ml) water

2 oz. (59 ml) oil

2 tsp. (10 ml) sugar

1.5 tsp. (7.4 ml) active dry yeast

2 tsp (10 ml) salt

1 egg

Knead about 10 minutes on slow to medium speed. Add a small amount of flour if needed when dough looks too wet.

Let sit for about ten minutes. Dust surface liberally with flour, transfer dough and divide into 4 parts. If dough is still sticky turn each side onto flour and begin to hand-stretch and form into a ball:

Grab a piece of the dough and fold it over itself continuously as if trying to stretch a tight hood over it's head. The dough will start to feel tighter after about a minute. When dough springs back quickly when poked, it's ready. Over stretching will make the crust tough and hard to eat.

Place the four dough balls on a greased pan and cover with plastic. Let stand in the refrigerator overnight. Take out one hour before preparing pizzas.

My notes: I am going to make this with whole wheat flour.  I don't put any dairy in my oven, but I still want to try this recipe.  Here are some toppings I'm thinking about: roasted garlic, pesto/fresh basil, sun dried or fresh tomatoes, fancy mushrooms, chicken, eggplant, red onions...  

                       Please comment and tell me about your pizza creations!

See professional work from my mom, Caren Hackman, on her website: http://www.carenhackman.com/

Thank you, also, to my multi-talented father, Dan Hackman.  In addition to being an excellent cook, he is an accountant and business consultant: http://www.hackmanconsulting.com/