When is the date? Do you have time to do a test run? I agree with buying the dough already made or even already baked... its not cheating

it is not hard to make pizza. many cookbooks have a recipe. you can make the dough too. try it out first to have a test run.

use prego as a basic sauce. add some cooked mushrooms or onions or whatever spces you like to spice it up. fresh spices preferred.

get some nice shredded cheese from the grocery. mozzarella is traditional but other cheeses are also good.

try it. it's fun and easy.

Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

* 1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
* 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)
* 3 1/2 cups flour
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon sugar

mix the yeast and sugar and water together. let the yeast proliferate for 15 minutes or so. in a large bowl mix all
the ingredients together and knead by hand. after you have
a nice dough ball, coat it lightly with oil and let it rise
in a warm spot until it doubles in size... you can cut the dough
in 2 to make two 12" pies or roll it out flat to make a larger
thin circle, add sauce, cheese and toppings and use a cookie
sheet to bake at about 400F for 10 minutes or until the cheese
and crust is browned slightly as you like it.

Perfect. I am making the dough- I feel as if buying it would be cheating.

I realize there is tons of stuff online to read about - but actually hearing advise from a person makes my brain work better.


I am jacked to do this.


I for sure need to buy an apron

And where nothing but......


Kidding......good luck with the pizza. We always buy the box of Chef Boyardee.......

it is easier than it sounds. just go for it.
don't be a wuss!

awesome idea!! oooo oooo, and throw it in the air like that dude on the visa commercial............



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2fHeGfNUUk



and have a great date!!!

Fu$$ it dude be a real chef cook naked lol

That is what I was going to tell him

I haven't had one of those for awhile. They are pretty yummy...

your right. this is not a time to be a wuss.


I will make this pizza. And I will dominate it. And I will do it in my apron.

Yes they are...and easy too

It's Monday. I assume you have all week to practice. Go buy the premade pizza dough anyway, that way you have a plan B.

Go buy a pizza pan to cook the pie. I like the ones with little holes than brown the crust better than a cookie sheet. Some people like a "pizza stone" or go spend a dollar for a 12" tile at Home Depot.

Make a thin crust from scratch and make two pies, one with your crust and one with the premade crust. Hopefully find out what she likes so you can focus on that kind of pizza. Make part of the pizza with something special that will impress her like onion, peppers, black olives, pineapple, and ham. Use lots of Mozzarella cheese.

The trick to cooking the pie is to get the crust brown on the bottom without burning the top. Make sure the pie is in the center of the preheated oven. If you practice two or three days, making two pies a day, you will look like you know what you are doing ... because you will know what you are doing. If you try the first pie on her you run a big chance of burned crust, uncooked crust, too thick uneven crust, etc.

Be careful, the tomato sauce will burn you.

Personally, I like Italian pizza crust much better than what we
have here in the States. I can remember my first pizza in Rome;
crust, Parmesan cheese (and lots of it) and anchovies. The crust
was very thin and crisp. Buy bread flour, it has more protein and makes a stronger dough.

This takes a little more skill to make.

Begin quote:

Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough Recipe

Heidi notes: Peter's recipe says the olive (or vegetable oil) is optional. I use it every time - always olive oil, not vegetable oil. I love the moisture and suppleness it adds to the dough, and it makes your hands soft too.

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment), If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea- spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas), You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it, Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan, Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag.

3. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)

4. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Before letting the dough rest at room temperature for 2 hours, dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Now let rest for 2 hours.

5. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone either on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800F (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550F, but some will go higher). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

6. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift I piece of dough by getting under it with a pastry scraper. Very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. If it begins to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue shaping it. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss as shown on page 208. If you have trouble tossing the dough, or if the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn't as effective as the toss method.

7. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other top- pings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The American "kitchen sink" approach is counterproductive, as it makes the crust more difficult to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient.

8. Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower self before the next round. if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.

9. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.

Makes six 6-ounce pizza crusts.

I commend you, Intriguing...for taking on this task!

I don't make pizza often, but there is a bit of a skill to it, so I do suggest making a few dry-runs prior to the infamous "date".

IMHO, it's ALL about the crust, sauce and CHEESE...the add-on ingredients are a cinch, as long as they are FRESH!

Slowhand's receipe sounds similar to mine for the dough - use that one and YES...be CERTAIN you use FRESH dry yeast!!!!

My suggestion is DO NOT (repeat DO NOT) use bottled sauce! Here's my receipe for the sauce:

1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
500 grams can whole/chopped Italian plum tomatoes (or garden fresh tomatoes if you have them)
2 teaspoons concentrated tomato puree
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 teaspoons sugar
1 Pinch of oregano, basil and thyme

Gently saute the onion in a large pan in the oil until transparent. Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil. Once simmering, add the tomato puree, vinegar and sugar. Simmer for a full hour, using a WOODEN spoon to break up any tomato pieces. Add the pinches of herbs about 30 minutes into simmering. Strain the mix if there are still "chunks" of tomato in the sauce. Spread thinly on pizza crust. Add fresh ingredients and then BAKE that sucker at about 400 to your liking!

Now, regarding the cheese...I recommend grating a block of FRESH "strong/hard" cheese (mozzarella, provolone, etc). I tend to prefer a Gouda or Feta myself, but that may not be to your liking or hers. If you use the pre-grated crap, it's too thin and tends to get burnt during cooking. I tend to add the cheese about 1/2 way through baking...that way it gets really "gooey", but doesn't loose it's flavor.

Good luck with this..and just be sure to serve your date plenty of good wine BEFORE you serve it up. That way, if it sucks...she won't care!

Listen hon.. do this..

Dont go through all that...

Call your grocery store bakery, and ask them "do you have premade dough?"

They usually already have many balls of it premade for you to do as you wish, make calzonesss.. make stromboli.. make zeppolis..pizzaaaa..


This is what I do from time to time when my son wants a calzone, or stromboli, and dont want a mess.

Ask your baker how long you have to let it sit, and do this ahead of the date day.

Dont panic, if one doesnt have it, another will.. just call around.

xo

Hope the sex is good.

Just remember to go light on the onions and peppers. They tend to make a woman a little gassy. Just saying brother......

*SNORT*

ha ha.. what? Im serious.

Earthy! He wants to prove himself. We have cavemanism working here. He wants to prove that he can make the best damn pizza in town! He needs to do that! (but don't forget Plan B)

I know...that's why I friggin' *SNORTED* (and still am)!