If you’re still in a dither about food for Super Bowl Sunday, think pizza.
This one’s fresh and homemade by you, and it’s made with with this new homemade lager-infused pizza crust.
It’s the creation of Mark Bello (www.pizzaschool.com), and it goes together like this:
Samuel Adams Boston lager-infused pizza crust
1 bottle (12 ounces) Boston lager, warmed up to 120-130 degrees
About 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 packet quick highly active or bread machine yeast
1 tablespoon fine salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing rising container and oiling cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Sauce — any favorite
Toppings — any favorites
Warm beer (warming beer properly means yeast will activate properly). Warm the bottle in a bowl of very warm (not boiling) water or by running it under hot water from the tap.
In a 5-quart or larger bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt and oil.
Add beer to flour mixture, and stir with a fork (not stirring with your hands just yet — it’s too sticky at first) until the dough is lumpy. Then go in with your hands.
The dough will now still be a little sticky, so gradually add flour as you knead to the point that the finished dough should be just slightly tacky and elastic.
To tell when the dough is done, periodically poke it and when the dough gently springs back after you poke it, it is done.
Don’t worry if it is not perfectly smooth — don’t overknead it.
Your finished dough, if you have a scale, will weigh right around 2 pounds — 30 to 34 ounces.
Break into 2 equal pieces — use a scale or eyeball it.
Ball each piece up and place each in a separate airtight container lightly greased with olive oil.
Each container needs to be at least a quart in size to allow for each dough ball to double in size (deli quart containers will work just great for this).
Set dough aside to rise in a warm location — about 70-80 degrees is good. After dough has expanded/up to doubled in size (about 1 to 2 hours), gently remove from container and stretch to fit on a lightly greased 12- or 14-inch cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Spread dough with sauce, then cover with choice of toppings. Bake in a preheated 500-degree oven until the crust and toppings are to your desired doneness, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Out of the oven, allow a few minutes to cool. Then cut, serve and enjoy.
Makes 2 crusts.
Note: For a thicker crust, stretch to 12 inches. For a thinner crust, stretch to 14 inches.
The next Forum will appear in Monday’s Good Life section.
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