Spring Vacation Will Start Soon; Pizza Can Help
Photo by Cynthia Hochswender

Spring Vacation Will Start Soon; Pizza Can Help

There is of course no actual reason to make your own pizza, from a culinary point of view. Your average pizza professional will toss a much better pie than anything you can make in an afternoon at home. 

There is nonetheless one very compelling reason to try making the food favorite (which some legislators are trying to make the official state food of Connecticut): Making pizza is fun and a great activity to do with children.

Spring vacation is coming soon for students in Region One. That means that children of all ages will be bored and hanging around the house (especially if it’s cold and muddy outside); plus, you will have to feed them.

Pizza is here to help

This is a project that checks a lot of activity boxes:

• It can be enjoyed by all age groups, from teens to toddlers. 

• It has several educational components. For instance, all cooking projects teach children to count, to measure and to follow instructions. Ideally, you will model good behavior by getting all the ingredients out ahead of time, pre-measuring them and reading the instructions aloud together.

Another educational component is to talk about pizza’s origins in Italy. This is a moment in cooking history when we talk about cultural appropriation; before you get cooking, do some internet searches for Italian pizza (or watch the excellent television show “Stanley Tucci, Searching for Italy.” In the episode about Naples you can watch a mouthwatering demonstration of how true Italian pizza is made). 

• For older children, learning to make a favorite food is a confidence booster. Maybe your teens will even invite friends over for their own pizza party. 

• Any project that involves yeast is automatically a lesson in life science. Yeast is alive. It’s fun to watch what it does to flour and water.

• Making pizza falls into the category of “decorative craft projects.” Children above all else love to decorate things, and any child of any age can enjoy arranging cheese, basil, sauce on a crust canvas. 

As the parent, your job is to keep your hands off; don’t tell them how to decorate unless they ask for your help. You’ll have enough to do preparing the ingredients and cleaning up; let them create the edible art. This is about doing an intergenerational project that, in the end, will also provide you with lunch or dinner.

Trigger warnings

It’s important to warn your pizza makers that the pretty pizza they put in the oven will be less pretty after it’s been exposed to 450-degree heat for a quarter of an hour. Children who love monster films might be thrilled by this; younger children might be disappointed. 

This recipe is adapted from a recipe at www.allrecipes.com by Chef Rider. I made several changes, including leaving out the sugar.  Bakers use sugar to be sure their yeast is active (to “proof” it), but if you use an unexpired  packet of yeast you shouldn’t have any problems. 

I use SAF instant yeast (I buy it at Sharon Farm Market in Sharon, Conn.), which gets mixed right in with the dry ingredients. You can do the same with active dry yeast, in spite of what the package says. 

However, if your young chefs will find it exciting, by all means begin by combining one packet of active dry yeast with a teaspoon of white sugar and your warm water. Let the mix stand for 10 minutes until it puffs up. Then mix it with the other ingredients.

This recipe calls for bread flour, but I made it with all purpose flour because I think that’s what most people have at home. If you have bread flour and want to use it, go ahead; it will improve the texture. But I found the all purpose crust to be crisp and tasty.

You’ll need a strong stand mixer for this; I used my fancy high-power KitchenAid mixer and the dough was so stiff it shut my engine off. If you don’t have a sturdy mixer, you can knead the dough for a few minutes but really don’t worry about it too much. You want it to be smooth but it doesn’t have to be professional quality.

 

Easy pizza

Adapted from www.allrecipes.com

Makes four small pizzas

 • .25 ounces of dry yeast (or one packet of active dry yeast — note it is .25 not 25)

• 1 1/4 cup of warm water (heat it to 110 degrees; if you don’t have a thermometer, it should feel warm not hot if you put a drop on the inside of your wrist)

• 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

• 1 teaspoon of salt

 Toppings can include tomato sauce from a jar, pesto sauce, fresh or shredded mozzarella, good-quality ricotta (drain it over a colander first), olives, mushrooms, fresh basil, peppers, artichoke hearts — you know what you like.

Combine all your ingredients (except the toppings) in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth. You can knead it instead; don’t worry over it too much, it doesn’t have to be perfect, just smooth.

Let the dough rest for a half hour in a warm spot (80 degrees is ideal but again, don’t worry about it too much). If you have an Instant Pot, wipe the inside of the pot with olive oil on a brush or paper towel, and then put your dough inside. Do not lock the cover on, just put a plate on top of it. Heat your dough on the yogurt setting for 30 minutes.

If your chefs are antsy, you can skip the rest period and go ahead and roll out the dough — but it will be stiff and uncooperative.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. After your dough has had its 30-minute rest, it should be puffy and tender. Divide it into four roughly equal pieces with a heavy knife or a pastry cutter. Lightly cover three of the pieces with a damp dishtowel or a sheet of plastic wrap.

Take the fourth piece of dough and roll it gently into a ball, then stretch it and flatten it into a disc. Put it on a sheet of parchment paper and roll it out gently. You probably won’t make a perfect circle; feel free to make shapes (make a rabbit and give it mozzarella whiskers and a fluffy white mozz tail). 

Shape the other three balls.

Give each young chef a pizza crust and some ingredients to work with. It’s best if they can decorate their pizza in 15 minutes or less; if it takes longer, the dough can dry out and start to puff up. Make sure they stay on the parchment paper.

If you want to give your pizza a little more flavor, brush it lightly with olive oil and sprinkle on some salt and pepper before you start decorating. 

Slide your pizza and parchment paper on a cookie sheet and put it  in the oven. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until it looks done. Don’t let anyone burn their mouth on the hot sauce and cheese. This pizza reheats beautifully (325 degree oven).

Latest News

Home field advantage holds true for Webutuck softball and baseball

Olivia Wickwire, no. 2, tags out a runner at first base. The Webutuck Warriors varsity softball team beat the Germantown Clippers 14-7 at home Friday, April 25.

Photo by Nathan Miller

AMENIA — Webutuck girls varsity softball beat visiting Germantown 14-7 Friday, April 25.


Keep ReadingShow less
Historians and neighbors celebrate Revolutionary War veterans at old Amenia Burying Ground

Tim Middlebrook, President of the Columbia Mid-Hudson Valley chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, left, Amenia Town Supervisor Leo Blackman, center, and Amenia Historical Society President Betsy Strauss unveiled a new historical marker at the Old Amenia Burying Ground on Saturday, April 26. The marker commemorates revolutionary war veterans buried at the cemetery where the Red Meeting House once stood on Mygatt Road.

Photo By Nathan Miller

AMENIA — Tim Middlebrook of the Sons of the American Revolution and Amenia Historical Society President Betsy Strauss unveiled a new historical marker honoring Revolutionary War vets in the Amenia Burying Ground.

Rain all morning had threatened the event, but historical society members, lovers of history and sons of the revolution persisted and the rain let up just in time.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton ends Earth Day week with film and talk on pervasive plastics

From left, Deborah Maier, moderator, Megan Wolff, Nicole Clanahan and Olivia Skeen.

Photo by John Coston

MILLERTON — The Climate Smart Task Force celebrated the end of Earth Day week on Sunday, April 27, with a free showing of “Plastic People,” a documentary about humanity’s relationship with plastic, cosponsored by The Moviehouse.
The award-winning film portrays a pervasive role plastic plays in our lives and explores its effect on human health, especially as microplastics.

Microplastics have found their way into human organs and even into the placentas of new mothers. The film is a call to action by science journalist Ziya Tong, who talks with scientists and undertakes self experimentation to prove her points.

Keep ReadingShow less
Amenia Planning Board calls for more detail in Keane Stud subdivision covenant study
Amenia Town Hall
Photo by John Coston

AMENIA — A report from the town’s visual impact consultant in connection with the application submitted by developers of the proposed Keane Stud subdivision led to discussion of the type of detailed information needed to satisfy local requirements at the regular meeting of the Planning Board on Wednesday, April 23.

At the April 9 meeting of the Planning Board, Keane Stud subdivision’s Senior Planner Peter Sander of Rennia Engineering had reviewed plan changes that had reduced the number of lots planned from 27 to 23 with a corresponding reduction in total acreage from 704 to 605. Changes had been made to protect the viewshed from DeLaVergne Hill, Sander said.

Keep ReadingShow less