Grandma Ann’s Pizza Recipe

My grandmother was a wonderful cook, and like all great chefs, Grandma cooked more by “feel” than anything else.  What do I mean?  She adjusted her ingredients at will.  So, you’ll find her base recipe below.  Try it.  If you feel it needs a few extra “pinches,” adjust it the next time!

- Mary Azzoli, Director of Interactive Media Systems

 Ingredients for Grandma Ann’s Pizza Dough

Makes approximately two rectangular pies (size of cookie sheets)

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 packages yeast

1 tablespoon oil

1 cup warm water

Breadcrumbs, sprinkled to cover cookie sheets

Procedure:

Mix dry ingredients plus the oil.  Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water.  Add to mixture.  Mix dough.  (The dough should be a little harder than cake mix but softer than macaroni dough.)  If dough is too hard, add a little more warm water. 

Place dough in an oiled bowl.  Make a cross in the dough and let rise.  (The cross will disappear from the top of the dough when it has risen – about an hour.)  Once dough has risen, push down again and let it rise a second time.  Remove dough from bowl and place on countertop.  Work dough, adding flour as necessary.  Divide dough into sections.  Cover keeping the dough warm.  Let stand for one hour.   Sprinkle cookie with breadcrumbs.

Shape each section of dough to size of cookie sheets and place on top of breadcrumbs.

 Ingredients for Grandma Ann’s Tomato Sauce

¼ cup onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Basil, to taste

Procedure:

Saute ¼ cup chopped onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Add 28oz. can crushed tomatoes.  Add salt, pepper, and basil to taste.  Simmer for about half an hour. 

Preparing Grandma Ann’s Pizza

Heat oven to 450 degrees

Ingredients for Topping

Mozzarella cheese, sliced

Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

Dried oregano, to taste

Olive oil, drizzle

Procedure:

Cover pizza dough with Grandma Ann’s tomato sauce (can be substituted with your favorite store bought brand).  Place mozzarella on top of sauce.  Sprinkle on grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese and dried oregano.  Drizzle with olive oil, sparingly.  Bake at 450 degrees until bubbly and crisp.