I actually got it right this time: 450 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes.
I used a whole wheat crust, which is slightly difficult to judge because it’s already brown before cooked.
The only thing that still eludes me is how not to get a bubbling pool of cheese, sauce and liquid in the middle of the pie. Any suggestions?
4 responses so far ↓
CHEF TUMORO // November 8, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I cook the crust for about 10 minutes then throw all of the other stuff on last.
especially the CHEESE! usually only needs about 2 or three minutes unless you are going for the crispy sort of cheese. Another solution for avoiding the pizza pool is frying your topping in a pan with EVOO, s&p, a little crushed red, fresh basil, and garlic. So if you want mushrooms, fry it up in that mix, then drain a little if it’s crazy soupy. the throw that on the pizza and add cheese. cook that for the remaining 3 or 4 minutes on your already cooking crust.
Another thing i do sometimes is rub the dough with EVOO, garlic, parmesan, crushed red, chopped fresh basil and cook for that first ten minutes. then add tomatoes or whatever topping. cheese always last couple of minutes with high temps.
joefixit // November 13, 2007 at 2:12 am
Ok, Tumoro, I did what you suggested and things did not go well. The dough blew up like a balloon in the first ten minutes, culminating in a near explosion inside the oven.
Should I poke the dough with a fork or put some olive oil on it before throwing it in? I need help.
The battle for a perfect pizza continues.
Krissy // November 14, 2007 at 2:26 pm
If you are using fresh mozz, it has a lot of water in it. Try drying it out a little bit with a paper towel before you put it on. Good luck!
joefixit // November 14, 2007 at 6:25 pm
You are absolutely right. I’ll dry out the cheese first and say how that works. Thanks!