The Pioneer Woman Cooks (35 page)

3. With an electric mixer on low speed, drizzle in the olive oil until just incorporated.

4. In a separate bowl, gently stir the yeast/water mixture…

5. And drizzle it into the flour/ oil mixture; mix until the dough forms a ball. (You can also mix by hand until the dough comes together.)

6. Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean bowl. Toss the ball of dough in the bowl and turn over to coat in oil.

7. Cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours, or cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.

8. To prepare the pizza, preheat the oven to 500ºF.

9. Divide the dough in half. Lightly drizzle olive oil on a pizza pan or rimmed baking sheet.

10. Using your hands, stretch the dough to the desired shape, pressing the dough into the pan with your fingers. The thinner the better!

The surface of the dough should be lumpy from finger marks. All the better to receive and hold toppings, my dear.

11. Lay the desired toppings over the dough and bake the pizza for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges of the crust are golden brown.

The other half of the dough may be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 3 days before use, or frozen for up to 6 months.

POTATO-LEEK PIZZA

Makes 1 pizza

This is my favorite pizza on earth, hands down. It’s flavorful, textural, and girlie…the leeks set it apart from the fray, and it contains both goat cheese and bacon. What could be wrong?

Though it isn’t available everywhere, fresh mozzarella—more soft and bright white than the mass-produced stuff—makes this pizza extra wonderful. My local grocery store doesn’t carry it, so I always keep at least three or four packages in my freezer to have on hand when it’s pizza-making time. I’m sure this breaks a few rules of caring for artisan cheeses, but it’s the best I can do in this life I’ve been given.

If you can’t find fresh mozzarella, though, supermarket mozzarella will work just fine. Buy a block and slice it by hand. I like this much better than using the pre-grated variety.

½ recipe Pizza Crust (Dinner)Extra virgin olive oilKosher salt6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces3 leeks, rinsed well to remove grit and thinly sliced5 small red or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced paper thin1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thin4 ounces goat cheese, crumbledGrated Parmesan cheeseFreshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 500ºF.

2. Prepare the pizza crust and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt.