This past week in cooking class we made pizza! A classic dish, this pizza should’ve been a fan favorite, but it was quite the opposite. Since it was our first time making pizza, many things went astray. The dough was over-kneaded and tough, the pizza stone couldn’t be used, and the oven didn’t heat up enough to give our pizza the proper type of crust. Although we had these struggles with the dish, we had a good first run. The cheese was nicely broiled and light brown on top, and the sauce evenly covered all of the dough.
• Divide the dough in half. One pound of dough makes 2 (10-inch) pizzas. Divide the dough in half and cover one half with an upside-down bowl or a clean kitchen towel while you prepare the first pizza.Tear off a large piece of parchment paper roughly 12 inches long. Working with one piece of the dough at a time, form it into a large disk with your hands and place it on the parchment. Use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten the dough until it is 1/4-inch thick or less. If the dough starts to shrink back, let it rest for 5 minutes and then continue rolling.Top the pizza. Spoon half of the sauce onto the center of the pizza and use the back of the spoon to spread it out to the edgesPile on half of the toppings and half of the cheese.Bake the pizza. Using a pizza peel or the back side of a baking sheet, slide your pizza (with the parchment or with the cornmeal) onto the baking stone. If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the pizza right on the baking sheet.Bake for 5 minutes, then rotate the pizza. If using parchment, slide it out from under the pizza and discard. Bake until the crust is golden-brown and the cheese is melted and browned in spots, 3 to 5 minutes more.Slice and serve. Transfer the pizza to a cooling rack and let cool slightly, just until you’re able to handle it. Transfer to a cutting board, slice into pieces, and serve. Repeat making a second pizza with the remaining dough, cheese, and toppings
