I’ve been battling a cold this week and last night was one of those nights when I wanted to snuggle up to a warm slice of pizza and netflix. Although I could have easily ordered a pizza, I decided to eat something I already had (Kashi 7 grain waffles with strawberries, not a bad choice). During my second episode of Parks and Recreation, I went on Pinterest and searched for a pizza crust recipe, so that whenever I have these pizza whims I can whip up something myself instead of heading to the Domino’s website (God forbid I have to talk to someone on the phone).
There are hundreds of pizza dough recipes on Pinterest, and I’m sure 90% of them will result in a tasty pizza (if it looks too pretty to be true, sometimes it actually is). I found this one in the first 10 search results and chose to try it because I already had all of the ingredients. I also had pinned this pizza recipe a while ago and decided to try something like it. At Superama I found some lovely yellow cherry tomatoes, arugula, and jamon serrano (essentially the same as prosciutto but from Spain, and cheaper at my store) which I paired with a pesto I already had at home. I ran out of all purpose flour and had to use my whole wheat flour, which makes it unintentionally look healthy!
I recognize this is not a Mexican recipe, and I have been slacking on my Mexican cultural adventures, but starting next weekend I will be going on a week-long Mexican cultural extravaganza, so that should make make up for it.
Pesto, Jamon Serrano, Arugula, and Yellow Tomato Pizza
Dough (original recipe from the Mama’s Girls):
– 6 to 7 cups of flour (I used 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour until I ran out and used whole wheat flour, use whatever you like)
– 2 tablespoons of yeast (I used a packet, which is listed as 11 grams and came out to 1 1/2 tablespoons and it was fine)
– 3 cups of warm water (microwaved room temp water for 1:30 minutes)
– 2 tablespoons of sugar
– 1 teaspoon salt
– cornmeal for dusting the pizza stone or pan (I just used a cookie sheet)
Pizza toppings:
– 2 tablespoons of pesto
– handful of yellow cherry tomatoes
– handful of arugula
– 1 mozzarella cheese stick (or 3/4 shredded mozzarella)
– 4 slices of jamon serrano
1. Mix the yeast in the warm water. Let it do it’s thing and get frothy, which takes about 2 or 3 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, salt, and 3 cups of flour. Mix with a whisk, or if you’re lucky enough to have a stand mixer, with the mixer or paddle attachment.
3. Add the remaining flour 1 cup at a time and switch to a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or paddle attachment.
The dough looks like batter, still needs a few more cups.
It’s coming together!
4. Once the dough forms a ball, knead it until it forms a tight ball. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
5. Now, preheat the oven to 400 F or 200 C and sprinkle cornmeal on your baking sheet or pizza stone and prepare your toppings.
I sliced these beauties in half so they wouldn’t roll around on the pizza.
You won’t need the arugula until the pizza comes out of the oven. The heat emanating from the pizza will make it wilt.
My jamon serrano came in a packet of 5, but I only used 4 slices. Don’t worry about the last slice, just eat it as a pre-pizza snack.
6. Get ready to assemble! I divided the pizza dough into 3 sections and froze the other two pieces for another pizza day.
Roll out your dough. I tried tossing it and stretching it out by hand, but I found it easier to roll out.
Once on your baking sheet, assemble the ingredients!
The advice from this page is to lay the jamon in one sheet, which looks delicious, but then make it really hard to cut the pizza or eat it unless you’re eating all of the jamon in one bite. I would recommend cutting the jamon in half or tearing it into easier to manage pieces.
Bake for 10-13 minutes, until the crust is puffed up. Then remove from the oven and put the arugula on the still hot pizza.
Buen provecho!
Isabelle en Guadalajara 