Thin Crust Pizza... Done Right This Time!

After last weekend's rather lackluster attempt at a thin crust pizza, I felt a need to try again, with a different recipe, in hopes of getting it right this time. I am happy to report that I succeeded in this endeavor, and the results were more than good enough to make up for last weekend's fiasco!



This time it worked!  Yay!!


For the crust, I used the recipe for Thin Crust Pizza published in the January 2001 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine. This calls for the dough to be refrigerated for at least overnight, so I made up a batch yesterday evening and a second batch this morning before going to work. I have to admit, I was more than a bit dubious when I woke up in the morning and saw how little the first batch of dough had risen, and even moreso when we got home and I saw that the dough looked essentially identical to when I looked in the morning. Nonetheless, I continued, figuring that if it didn't work, I'd probably at least learn something in the process.

Well, I needn't have worried. The crust turned out great... wafer-thin, delightfully crispy and flavorful, tasting like like an honest pizza crust, not bread-like or yeasty. The perfect thin crust, as far as I'm concerned, and better than any homemade version I've ever had.

I did not follow the published recipe in making the sauce. I liked the basic sauce idea presented in the article - start with crushed tomatoes, pureed smooth, cook some garlic, stir and season - but their sauce recipe struck me as extremely bland. I started with Dei Fratelli's crushed tomatoes.  That's our go-to brand when it comes to tomato products for anything remotely Italian. I used a lot more garlic than the original called for, but the real difference was in the seasoning. The original recipe called for nothing but a bit of salt and pepper to taste, which just doesn't cut it as pizza sauce as far as I'm concerned. If we hadn't have gotten home so late, I would have picked some fresh basil and supplemented that with some dried spice, but I was pretty hungry and decided to cut a couple corners. I ended up using Penzeys Tuscan Sunset Italian spice blend (http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeystuscan.html). The result was a smooth, flavorful and very Italian-tasting pizza sauce.

I topped the pizzas with some excellent pepperoni and mozzarella from Graziano Bros. grocery, a Des Moines institution (http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3713780045/graziano-bros-des-moines). As Juli's previously mentioned, they're our go-to place for most things Italian. We didn't use any of their excellent hand-made sausage this time around, but I plan to do so in the future.

I should note that I did something a bit atypical with the pepperoni. Namely, I cooked it in the microwave for a bit before putting it on the pizza. First I covered a plate with a layer of paper towel. Next I covered that paper towel with a layer of pepperoni, then I put another layer of paper towel on top. Microwaving it 30 seconds removed a lot of the grease. For the first pizza I made, Juli thought that trick also removed some of the flavor, but I think the issue was that I just didn't use a lot of pepperoni on the first pizza. I was being careful, as I didn't want to overburden the pizza with toppings until I saw how well the crust turned out. For the second pizza, I used almost twice as much pepperoni. She agreed then that the first pizza had simply needed a bit more pepperoni, and that the second one was not harmed a bit by losing some grease.

Double pepperoni goodness

My quest for a great thin crust pizza has ended, as this recipe is definitely a keeper. I expect I'll be using my pizza stone and peel a lot more often from now on. In fact, I plan to use them more this weekend, as I still have another batch of dough (the recipe makes enough for two pizzas), plenty more cheese and everything I need for sauce. Maybe I'll try some other ingredients and experiment a bit more with the sauce.

Here's the sauce I used this time around.

Jeffrey's Quick Pizza Sauce

yield = enough sauce for two 14" pizzas

14 1/2 ounces crushed tomatoes
1         tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2   teaspoon minced garlic
1         heaping teaspoon Italian seasoning

Puree the tomatoes in food processor until smooth.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 45 seconds. Add the tomato puree and Italian seasoning. Cook 15 minutes, stirring constantly.