Over the past couple of months, Lewis has worked hard to develop the ideal homemade pizza. He researched on the Interweb to learn the tips and tricks of the trade (how to move it from the countertop to the pizza stone, how to make sure the middle gets cooked, etc.). He found a decent crust recipe and a okay sauce recipe, then experimented with both until they were perfect.
Now that he's got a fabulous basic pizza under his belt, he is ready to experiment with variations. A couple of weeks ago we bought a 45-pound tub of wheat to grind in our blender. Lewis is hoping to figure out a top-notch whole wheat pizza crust. We tried it once and it was pretty darn good, but there is room for improvement.
Last night, however, Lewis' grand pizza experiment was a stuffed crust. This was an especially worth undertaking because there is always leftover sauce, and we could dip the crust in that.
He started out by making a recipe of crust. This recipe will make two pizzas, but he used all but a little of it for this so he would have enough to fold over the cheese. We cut string cheese in half, lengthwise and widthwise for the stuffing (this was my single contribution to the meal).
Lewis then folded the crust over the top of the cheese. He anticipated that as it cooked, it would bubble through the crust so he was very careful to seal it as best he could.
Next came the sauce and the shredded cheese for on top.
We normally do veggie or chicken pizzas, but Lewis decided to do pepperoni for this one. Pepperoni tends to be really greasy, though, and we prefer it crispy, so Lewis also learned how to fix that. It involved soaking the grease out through paper towels in the microwave. It didn't get all the grease, but it definitely helped. I'd never enjoyed a pepperoni pizza before this one.
Brushing the crust with olive oil, for good measure. It's not perfectly symmetrical, but it's not bad for a first attempt!
Ready to put the pizza in the oven. Lewis makes his pizzas on parchment paper so they slide from the pizza peel to the pizza stone without any fuss.
Lewis also put two cookie sheets on the bottom rack to catch any cheese that bubbled out of the crust. He's a smartie.
Pretty good looking pizza, huh? It was still greasier than usual, but thank goodness it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Looks good enough to eat! Good thing we did. Oh my, it was so good. I never thought I would like a stuffed-crust pizza before, but Lewis changed all that with this treat.
All in all, it was an epic pizza success. I couldn't help but have seconds, which was bad news bears since we had just returned from a dessert contest when he made the pizza. I felt fit to bursting when dinner was over. Worth it. I only feel bad for Jack cause he's too little to have any.
Anyone who is anyone is invited over to try Lewis' pizza. He'll whip one up for you in no time at all.
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