I made some dough last using Jim Lahey’s no-knead recipe. It’s not the first time, but I prefer it over other methods because I don’t cake everything in the kitchen with flour. It’s all contained in a bowl the same way those “cookie in the jar” things were that we were forced to assemble in Home Ec class.
The dough I made last night and hid in the corner of the kitchen has been rising steadily. I think this morning it celebrates it’s twelfth hour on earth which is equivalent to 25 dough years. If my anthropological studies are correct, that means it’s about ready to take on the Pizza Trials to reach pizza maturity. It’ll have to pass the Trial by Oven, Trial by Toppings, and Trial by Belly. I’ll let you know how that goes.
The pizza’s goals are clear, but as the pizza’s guide I feel responsible for setting my own goals to ensure that there’s a successful blending of belly and pizza. What’s the point of waking up before noon if you’re not going to set goals?
Pizza Goals
- Don’t stretch the dough too thin. I try to get the most out of my dough which is foolish since the cost of making dough is about $1. Nothing but dividends, as they say in the biz. Tonight I’m going to use more dough to avoid pizza potholes and other disasters. Pizza potholes and other disasters is also the name of my autobiography.
- Simplicity! I ended up with twice as much fresh mozzarella as I needed. The lady at Penn Mac misheard me and she was bubbling over with sweetness that I didn’t have the heart to tell her there was a miscommunication. Despite the surplus, it’s important to keep the pizza light so that it doesn’t turn into a trash heap of ingredients hopelessly mixing with one another like one of those key parties from the 70’s.
- Not make a mess. When I’m done making pizza the kitchen is covered in flour, water, and cheese. Like a meth lab exploded. Except instead of a meth lab it’s a papermache lab. Not tonight! Simple and clean.
- Delicious. It’s gotta be delicious pizza.
