Crust
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup ground yellow cornmeal
2 tsp Coarse Sea Salt
1 Pack Dry Active Dry Yeast (I used Fleischmann’s)
1/2 tsp Sugar
Hot water (100*F to 120*F)
Olive Oil
This produces a very dense, cracker-like crust.
Start by proofing the yeast. You’re just checking to make sure that the yest is going to do it’s job. Now, I’ve never had a batch that didn’t work, but if I do I’d rather know it before I put in all of my dry ingredients and wait an hour. So, in a large bowl, dump in 1/4 cup of hot water, your package of yeast and the 1/2 tsp of sugar. After 10 minutes, check it. If there is foam, you’re good to go. If it still looks like it did when you dumped it in, toss that batch and start again.
Now you can make the rest of your crust. To your foamy yeast, add another 1/2 cup of hot water, 2 Tbsp of olive oil, salt, your flour and corn meal, then mix it up until it forms a dough. Keep an extra 1/4 cup of hot water handy. If the dough seems too dry (it won’t form a nice, compact dough ball), add some more water and mix until it is where you like it.
Now you need to kneed. Lay down some more flour or corn meal on a flat surface. Drop your dough ball and start working it. It’s going to take 5 to 10 minutes. Keep adding flour and/or corn meal until the dough ball is not longer sticky. Form this back into a ball. I finish it off by dropping some more corn meal onto the surface and rolling the dough ball in it to coat the outside.
Oil a large bowl, drop your dough ball in, cover it with a towel and wait. Actually, by now your kitchen is most likely covered in flour and corn meal, so take some time to clean up. Let the dough ball rest, at room temp, for about an hour (until it has doubled in size).
Now, punch (like you’re messing around with friends, don’t go all Mike Tyson on it) the doughball down. Divide it up into 2 pieces. Lay down some more flour and/or corn meal on a flat surface and roll your two pieces into round crusts. Shoot for about 1/8″ thick.
Brush off anything that is still sticking to the surface of your crust. Wrap these in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until you’re ready to make pizza.
Pizza
There really isn’t a firm recipe here; go with what taste good. But this is, in general, what we put on our pizzas.
Crust
Sausage (pre-cooked)
Pepperoni
Pizza Sauce (Meijer’s All-Natural is surprisingly good, but Mom’s homemade pizza sauce can’t be beat)
Bell Peppers
Onion
Garlic
Parsley
Oregano
Basil
Cheese
Build your pizza on a pizza peel if grilling (or a baking sheet for in the oven). Put a light coating of corn meal on the peel to help the crust slide off.
Start putting down toppings as you like. I like to do a layer of sauce, then add some toppings, cover lightly in cheese, a little more sauce, pepperoni, more cheese.
Heat the grill to 550*F. Heat your pizza stone up in the grill (or oven). You don’t ever want to put a cold stone in a hot grill. Add a little bit of corn meal to the stone to prevent sticking and slide your pizza on. It should only take 10-15 minutes for the pizza to be ready to serve.
