A Pizza I Thought I’d Never Make

A Pizza I Thought I’d Never Make

What can I say? Many times people tell me that I’m a stubborn old grouch. They have told me that I should be more flexible. The kindest way this feeling was expressed, was by one reader, who said I’m ‘set in my ways’. 

With food, I have a couple of hard fast rules. The cardinal rule is that ketchup should never be allowed on a hotdog. That’s not just an opinion, that’s moral certitude! Just ask any real Chicagoan. Ketchup on a hotdog is an outrage and a crime against humanity!  Another rule I’ve been pretty firm on is, no fruit on pizza.

Well, since the Great Lisle Flood of 2013, my next door neighbors are now my housemates. I try to do everything I can to make them feel at home. Last night I was making pizza for them. One was sausage, peppers and onions while the other was just cheese and sausage. We had enough ingredients for one more pizza, and they were unanimous. They wanted a Hawaiian Pizza.

I found myself in a moral quandary. While I never considered pineapple on a pizza to be a mortal sin (like ketchup on a hotdog), I’ve always felt it was a venial sin. Well, I hope it is a forgivable sin, because I fell from grace last night and made a pizza with fruit. Pray for me!

Dough

2-1/2 cups flour 

2 tbs. instant yeast 

1 tsp. sugar 

1 tsp. salt 

3 tbs. olive oil 

water

Sauce

1 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes

1/4 cup of extra good olive oil

1 clove of garlic, smashed and minced very fine

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

Several grindings of black pepper

A couple of dashes of onion powder

1/4 white wine

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Dash of Tabasco

Toppings

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

5 strips of thick bacon, cooked and chopped

1 medium onion, cut into strips

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 heaping cup of (oh dear!) pineapple

Red pepper flakes

Preparation

Put the tomatoes in a large bowl. Break them up with a knife and fork. Add the other sauce ingredients and stir to mix well. Allow the sauce to sit at room temperature for about a half hour to blend the flavors. You’ll have enough sauce for one or two more pizzas (hopefully without fruit).

For the dough, add the flour, sugar, olive oil, yeast and salt to your mixer bowl. Add enough water - a little at a time - to form the dough. Knead the dough for a few minutes and let it rise for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle some flour on to a very clean counter. Place the dough on the counter and using your finger tips on both hands, poke the dough to shape it. You want a circle about 17 inches. Take a large pizza pan (about 16”) and sprinkle on a generous layer of corn meal on it. Slide the your dough into the pan and roll the edges up to form a crust.

Add a nice layer of sauce and then add the parmesan cheese. If you have any other cheese laying around grate some of that on too. Spread the bacon out evenly over the sauce. Add the onion and bell pepper evenly over the pizza. 

Now layer on lots of mozzarella cheese. Add the (I can’t believe I’m saying this) pineapple on top of the cheese. Give everything a good sprinkle of red pepper flakes and place the pizza into a 450º oven. You want the cheese to be golden brown and the pineapple should be a little charred.

Serving

I had one piece to be polite and went back to my sausage pizza.

I did try a piece, but it is never going to be a favorite of mine. My housemates loved it. We had the Hawaiian pizza with two sausage pizzas, which I prefer. We also had a big fruit salad, plenty of wine and beer, and big bowls of smokey lentil soup.