Category: Food Photography

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

I made pizza from scratch yesterday; something I haven’t done in a while.

I made enough dough to roll out two pies. Both had fresh Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese, but one had Kalamata Olives, and the other Black Olives for Baby Girl.

In the image above its ready for the oven. I had the pizza stone in the oven pre-heated; ready for the pie, but I forgot to pick up parchment paper at the store so the transfer from the baking sheet to the stone didn’t go smoothly. It ended up in a bit of a mess actually. It baked up fine. Just looked like a hot mess when it came out of the oven.

I didn’t take any photos of it don’t worry! 🙂

I did manage to cut a decent looking slice albeit slightly dinged at the tip.

It tasted great, and it was just as good cold this morning for breakfast.

The dough is a basic recipe, and uber simple. I used Lidia Matticchio Bastianich’s recipe. (Lidia’s Italy in America)

Makes two pies or a lot of Calzones 🙂

6 cups of all-purpose flour

1 package of active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Olive Oil for the bowl

2 cups warm water (90ºF to 110ºF)

I used my electric stand mixer to make my dough.

Pour two cups of warm water into a bowl. Stir in the yeast and sugar until dissolved; let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Combine the yeast mixture with flour, and salt in the mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together. Switch to your dough-hook attachment. Increase the speed to medium-high, and mix until the dough comes together into a smooth mass, approx. 2-3 minutes. The dough will not clear the sides of the work bowl at this point, but should not be too wet. Add a little water or flour as necessary to get the right consistency.

Scrap the dough onto a floured work surface and knead several times, until the dough comes together into a smooth ball.

Oil a large bowl, then turn the dough into the bowl until it is coated with oil. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size about 1-1 1/2 hours. Punch down the dough, divide in half, and let rise again.

Add your favorite marinara sauce and toppings, bake at 425ºF for 11-20 minutes, let stand a few minutes and serve.

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm| SB910 and SB600 speedlights