Pizza

Tonight's dinner was one of our favorite meals - pizza! I made the dough last night and let it rise while I watched some TV, then kept it in the fridge until dinnertime today.

Mini pizzas for the kids, topped with sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, basil, and parmesan:

For Chaim and myself, pizzas topped with sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, sauteed eggplant, basil, chopped garlic, and parmesan.

Basic Pizza Dough

The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook, Jack Bishop

1 1/4 cups warm water (105-115 degrees F)

1 teaspoon active dry yeast (1/2 envelope)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Cornmeal for sprinkling

Pour the water into a workbowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the yeast and oil and process for several seconds until smooth. Add the flour and salt, and process until the dough comes together in a ball, about 30 seconds.

Turn the dough into a lightly oiled large bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until the dough is puffy and has almost doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Divide the dough in half and place each half into a separate lightly oiled medium bowl. Let rise, covered, for 20 minutes. (The dough can be refrigerated in separate airtight containers overnight or frozen for up to 1 month. Bring to room temperature before rolling out.)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. (If using a pizza stone, make sure it is put into the oven when the oven is cold, and let it preheat with the oven.)

Lightly sprinkle a pizza peel or large rimless baking sheet with cornmeal. Flatten 1 dough ball into an 8-inch disk. Pat the disk several times to level out the dough. Slowly rotate the disk, stretching the dough to the side as you turn it. Thin the edge by flattening and stretching it with your fingertips. The circle of dough should have a diameter of about 12 inches.

Top as you would like, and then slide the pizza onto the pizza stone, or put the baking sheet into the oven. Bake until cheese is golden and the crust starts to brown.