Hey! This isn't going to be your run-of-the-mill food blog with a 20 minute story to read, then another 20 minute in-depth explanation of each method and ingredient, and then finally a recipe (if you're lucky). I'll just be posting the recipes that my roommates and I have been whipping up this past semester, as it's the first time we've all had a kitchen to use!
First up: flatbread pizza from scratch.
Because we are simple college folk, we are not inventing these as we go. We're using recipes found on the internet as a base, and modifying them to use the things we have available to us ( we've gotten very good at improvising). Any recipe we find online will be linked, and I'll simply list the ingredients needed. Refer to the linked recipes for the processes and cooking methods.
From the blog Midwest Foodie (as I am from Wisconsin), we found a no-yeast flatbread pizza recipe from which we pulled the dough, which goes as follows:
3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 cup warm water (important for this)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Cornmeal dusting
We made no modifications to this recipe, because it was pretty much perfect. The crusts themselves took us about 20 minutes to make 2 of them, and if we had more than 1 sheet pan, it would have been much quicker to bake them.
Once your dough is done with the first round of baking (10 minutes), it's ready for toppings, and the possibilities are endless! Do whatever you want!
I chose to do a more traditional Neapolitan pizza with a homemade sauce, which I found courtesy of my favorite Italian chef, Lidia Bastianich. Here's where I made some modifications:
1 28oz can whole tomatoes (no access to plum San Marzano, but DO IT IF YOU CAN)
2.5 tablespoons olive oil (since I doubled the recipe, but didn't want too much oil)
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Fresh garlic, to taste (I used about 2.5 teaspoons minced)
Splash of balsamic vinegar (1-2 tablespoons if you don't measure in splashes)
Splash of white wine (red is better if you have it, refer to above measurements for 'splash')
You can puree this all together in a blender or food processor, and I chose to put it over some heat as well because I wanted to check the taste prior to putting it on my meal for the night. Upon reflection, it tastes much better on the baked pizza than it does by itself.
As for the actual toppings, I also have to make some very sad adjustments due to pandemic hoarding at the grocery store. Traditional Neapolitan pizza consists of sauce, chunks of fresh mozzarella (not shredded/sliced), and leaves of fresh basil. I had no access to fresh basil, but I did have the mozzarella, dried basil, and spinach (trust me, it needs the green).
Overall, 8/10 on the taste of the sauce and toppings that were improvised, 10/10 on the crust because I love a nice, crunchy crust. If you're not a crunchy person, just lower the heat on the last bake. Time taken: 20 minutes per pizza if you multitask, multiple pizzas come out easier with more sheet trays. Not bad for college, not bad for anyone!
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