It's Friday...it must be pizza night!

Photo by Tamara Gak on Unsplash

While I was getting out the ingredients to make pizza dough today, I thought that I would write the recipe down and share it with you.  Pizza night has been a ritual in my family since I grew up as a Johnson.  As a child,  we enjoyed this weekly ritual in various ways.  Some weeks, it was take out from a local pizza, timed perfectly by my brother once he was old enough to drive. On other nights, it was handmade from the tiny, cardboard Jiffy box.  There were rare, occasional trips to dine in when we were on vacations. When home, a movie was selected for our viewing entertainment. My family watched and ate on snack trays in front of the only TV in the house. I remember watching Disney movies, musicals and classics including my dad’s favorite Alfred Hitchcock thriller, North by Northwest.

This past April, my entire Johnson family gathered in North Carolina to celebrate my parents' 80th birthday.  On Friday, we proceeded to find the local pizza joint and carried out 10 large pizzas.  Some things just don’t change!

When I married into the Edwards family, I installed pizza night as a regular stand in for Friday evenings.  Once I had a family of my own, I tried to make homemade pizza as often as I could.  As my boys grew up, they participated in the process by stirring the dough (counting to 100), adding toppings, shredding cheese and finally graduating to kneading the dough.  I am proud to say that they both can successfully make homemade pizza on their own. I also continued the tradition of eating on snack trays in front of the TV to enjoy a movie together.

Over the years, this has become one of my favorite meals to enjoy with my family.  The tradition has grown to include birthdays, Mother’s/Father’s Day or any excuse to make it.  Despite the fact that my boys are grown young men, they still look forward to pizza night when they are around.   When Graham was away in the backcountry of Alaska for 3 months, it was one of the things he missed the most.  This simple meal represented comfort, warmth, love and home.  I was touched that a slice of pizza could evoke such memorable feelings.

Tonight, I made it for Ethan who’s home on fall break from college.

The pizza recipe listed below has been tweaked over the years, and the measurements tend to change a bit.  I switch the amount of flour around and have been known to make it gluten-free (much to the chagrin of the family). I also pre bake my crust, because my family prefers its crispier.

Please feel free to try it and make it your own.  

Blythe’s Friday Night Pizza

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups of warm water

2 ½ tsp dried yeast (1 package of dried yeast)

2 cups spelt or wheat flour

2 cups + more white flour

2 TBL olive oil (separated + extra)

2 ½ tsp salt (sea salt)

Sprinkling of cornmeal

Pasta sauce

Assorted shredded cheese (Mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, goat)

Assorted toppings (onions, olives, green/red peppers, artichokes, spinach are some favorites)

Italian seasoning

Whole fennel

Red pepper flakes (adds a kick when sprinkled on top after pizza cooks)

Making the dough

Grab a large bowl and add 2 ½ cups warm water to it

Sprinkle yeast over the water 

Let sit for 5 minutes until little bubbles appear

Add 2 cups spelt or wheat flour to the warm water

Add 1 cup white flour to the mix

Stir 100 times (yes, you have to count and put some muscle into it)

Cover with plastic wrap or warm towel 

Let sit in warm place for 30-60 minutes

Add 1 Tbl olive oil 

Add 2 ½ tsp salt

Begin to stir soupy mixture while adding more white flour (only ½ cup at a time) 

Continue to add flour and stir until dough is shaggy

Dump it out on floured counter top 

Knead for 6-8 minutes (Don’t worry about technique here.  It will taste wonderful.)

Pour remaining 1 TBL olive oil same bowl

Place smooth, round  ball inside

Rotate dough around to cover it with oil

Place plastic wrap or warm towel over the bowl

Let rest  (I try to make the dough early in the day and let it rise until dinner)

Prepping pizzas

Preheat oven to 475

Pour a glug of olive oil in 2 heavy cookie sheets and spread with fingertips 

Sprinkle cornmeal on top of oil

Divide the dough into 2 pieces 

Hold the first ball of dough in your hands and gently stretch apart

Place dough in pan and press with fingertips to the edges

Roll the edges of the dough to create a nice crust

Repeat with other ball of dough

Cooking pizzas

Place the first pan on the second to bottom shelf

Allow the crust to pre-bake until just crispy

Repeat with the other pan

Allow the pans to rest on cookie cooling racks

Increase oven temperature to 500

Pour tomato sauce on top of pre baked pizza dough and decorate with toppings

Add shredded cheese and sprinkle on seasonings

New addition is to rub olive oil on crust and sprinkle sea salt

Place back into hot oven until the cheese is bubbly and brown

Remove to cool and slice into squares *

* The Johnson family heralds from Chicago so square slices are a must!

Give it a try or create your own ritual for Friday night.

Is there a meal that you prepare that has become a tradition?  I’d love to hear about it.