pizza | Pamela Toman

Alternative Pizza Sauce

An alternative pizza sauce recipe to Mom's pizza sauce.

Ingredients	Step
head of garlic	Roast by rubbing with olive oil, sprinkling with salt, then wrapping in aluminum foil and baking at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.
2 T. olive oil 2 twigs fresh oregano ¼ white onion, finely minced ¼ yellow onion, finely minced 2-3 squished roasted garlic cloves up to 1 T of combined salt, black pepper, red pepper	Cook in a saucepan over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
28 oz. can peeled San Marzano tomatoes (avoid tomatoes packed with calcium chloride)	Add to saucepan. Stir intermittently until sauce develops a deep red color.

Source: dannyphantom

Semolina Pizza

Makes 2 small-to-medium pizzas, enough to feed about 3 people without side dishes. Rises in the fridge for better flavor and flexibility.

Apparently you can take the parbaked pizza crust and save it for another night. Somehow ours always gets eaten.

This recipe tends to pop like pita, even docked.

Ingredients	Step
210 g AP flour (1¾ c.) 206 g semolina flour (1¼ c.) 1 t. yeast 8 g salt (1¼ t.) 25 g olive oil (2 T.) 1+ c. water, lukewarm (up to 1¼ c.) dash garlic powder	Stir together until shaggy and let rest about 15 minutes. Then knead with dough hook in mixer for 5-10 minutes, until sticky like a post-it and soft like a marshmallow.
	Grease a large container with a lid that will fit in fridge. Transfer dough to container, cover, and let rise 45 minutes on the counter. Transfer to fridge for the next 4-36 hours.
	Divide dough in half. Form 2 pizza crusts of the thickness you'd like, finishing them on parchment on a baking sheet. Cover and let the crusts rise. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
	After about 30 minutes, dock the dough, then parbake the pizza crusts for 6-8 minutes.
	Top with tomato sauce and toppings, and bake another 8 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Source: PJ Hamel's Now or Later Pizza Crust at KAF

Pan Pizza

Makes 1 (tall, bready) pizza. This is the one we made after Halloween at History San Jose in 2022. It does a bit better in a non-convection oven, so that the cast iron gets more direct heat.

Ingredients	Step
240 g. (2 c.) AP flour 3/4 t. salt 1/2 t. yeast 170 g. (3/4 c.) water, lukewarm 1 T (13 g.) olive oil	Stir together to make a shaggy dough with no dry patches. Gather into a ball, and cover for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, fold every direction one time (first fold). Recover. After 5 minutes, fold every direction one time (second fold). Recover. After 5 minutes, fold every direction one time (third fold). Recover. After 5 minutes, fold every direction one time (fourth fold). Recover. Let sit undisturbed on counter for 40 minutes. Transfer to refrigerator. Chill for 12-72 hours.
1.5 T. olive oil	About 3 hours before serving time, pour oil into a 10" cast iron pan. Tilt to cover the entire bottom, and spread oil up the edges as well.
	Transfer dough to pan. Turn it to coat both sides. Press into pan with dimples (resting 15 minutes between attempts if needed). Cover the crust. Let it rise 2 hours at room temperature.
	Arrange 1 rack near bottom and one near top. Preheat oven to 450. Non-convection ovens may deliver better heat for this recipe.
scant 1 cup mozzarella (~4.5 oz)	Sprinkle evenly on crust, no bare dough showing.
1/3 c. to 1/2 c. pizza sauce 1/4 c. mozzarella (~1.5 oz)	Dollop sauce atop, then sprinkle remaining mozarella.
	Bake on bottom rack for 18-20 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and bottom and edges are rich golden brown (use spatula to check bottom). Continue for another 2-4 minutes on either top or bottom rack depending on its needs.
	Remove from oven and immediately run a spatula between the pizza and the pan so it won't stick. As soon as you're comfortable, transfer it to a cooling rack so it doesn't get soggy.

Source: King Arthur Flour

Mom's Pizza Sauce

This recipe makes 4 cups of sauce, which can be used for ~3 pizzas depending on size. It freezes well.

A less-spiced sauce is this alternative.

Ingredients	Step
28 oz. crushed tomato 6 oz. tomato paste 1 t. sugar (increase for deep dish) 1 t. black pepper (decrease for deep dish) 1/4 t. cayenne (decrease for deep dish) 1/2 t. garlic powder 2 t. basil (6 t. if fresh) 1 t. oregano (2 t. if fresh) 1/4 t. fennel	Combine.
salt	To taste.

Source: Mom's pizza cookbook

Pamela Toman

Tag: pizza

Alternative Pizza Sauce

Semolina Pizza

Pan Pizza

Mom's Pizza Sauce