Kneading Dough

Pizza Memories

 Growing up in New York pizzerias were in every section of the city.  As a young girl, on the very block where I was born, was our neighborhood pizzeria and we’d run into Molly’s Pizzeria to get a cheese slice for 15 cents or 2 for 25 cents. There was magic in her dough and lots of love. Tommy, her husband, would pull the large tray out of the oven and with a few cuts, 10 pieces were ready. We’d eventually live over the pizzeria for four years. Every night around 10:45 – 11:00 the buzzer would ring and either my older brother or I would fly down the staircase and receive our cool box of leftovers. Breakfast for years!

Molly and Tommy came to New York from Italy as young people, and were the most generous business people, I knew.  They owned the three-story building and we lived right above the store. I never tasted anything close to their pizza, until I ate my first slice in 1993 along the Italian Riviera coastline in Cinque Terre. Pizza Altaglio Flli.Basso. There in the summer heat, sitting on a curb, a slice melted in my mouth, and I tasted Molly’s love. Was it the sauce or the cheese or the love? I returned there, to share my photos, twenty-five years later and the owner recognized his family. Love. I saw it in his eyes and heart.

I began making my own pizza crust in 1972.  I was living in Arlington, Virginia. My husband was only a private first class and the rent in the D.C. area ate most of our paycheck. Back then I could make a pizza for under $1.00, and today I probably can make one with two toppings for under $5.00. I don’t know how many pizzas I’ve made in my lifetime, but I’m pretty sure hundreds.

Fresh Yeast Pizza Dough

Recipe from a book called Bread 1969

3-3 ½ cups of flour

1 ¼ cups of warm water to melt 1 T. butter (lukewarm, not too hot)

1 package of dry Quick Yeast

1 T. sugar

½ tsp. salt

Melt the butter in the water (I use a microwave safe measuring cup), stir in the sugar and salt. Add yeast. Pour all the liquid into the flour and stir until you form a ball. Knead dough for 10 minutes. Place in a butter bowl and cover with a clean dish towel. Allow to rise or double for about 30 minutes. Punch down and shape into a circle or rectangle shape with a rolling pan. Stretch with hands. Be sure to keep the dough floured well.  Make a double portion and let your young children have fun making their own pizzas, or practice throwing it in the air!

Your baking pan should be greased with butter and a light dusting of corn meal.

After you stretch your dough to fit your pan, use any pizza sauce and chesses you like. You can use a jar of pizza sauce, but sparingly, shredded mozzarella works well for the topping. In our home, we like onions, sweet sausage and pepperoni, but top as desired with healthy vegetables, too.  Watch your oven, everyone’s is different, but I bake at 450 degrees for approximately 15-18 minutes. When the crust is lightly brown remove. Cool 5 minutes before cutting into your slices.