Arbuz's Kitchen

 photo credit: http://www.loveandoliveoil.com

To prepare the balsamic reduction, pour balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan, bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the vinegar has reduced to 1/4 cup, about 20 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F or as high as your oven will go. If you have a pizza stone, preheat the stone in the oven for at least 30 minutes to allow it to get thoroughly hot.

Divide dough into tennis-ball sized pieces. Take one piece of dough and punch it down on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a circle approximately 1/4-inch thin. Place the pizza on a pizza peel or pan that has been generously coated with corn meal. Lightly brush with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Top with mozzarella, goat cheese, and peach slices. Drizzle the pizza with balsamic reduction. Repeat for remaining pizzas.

Place the pizza in the oven-directly on the pizza stone, if using one, or on the oven rack. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until pizza crust is golden and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with basil and drizzle with balsamic reduction. Cut into slices and serve.

 photo by http://www.davidlebovitz.com

Ingredients:

Garlic Oil :

For the pizza shown: 2 pounds (1kg) tomatoes, oven-roasted, 2 sautéed onions, 6 slices of country-style ham (jambon de Bayonne), a few slices of chorizo, 1/2 cup pesto, 6 ounces (180g) grated Comté cheese, and 8 ounces (240g) fresh mozzarella.

Pizza Dough

Instructions;

1. Mix the olive oil and garlic together and set aside for a few hours.

2. To make the dough, make the starter by mixing the yeast, water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. (If making the dough by hand, mix them in a large bowl.) Stir in the 1/4 cup of flour and whole wheat flour, and let stand 30 minutes undisturbed, until foamy.

3. Mix in the salt, the 3 cups flour, then the olive oil and water. Knead for five minutes with the dough hook attachment, or by hand, until a smooth, but slightly sticky ball of dough is formed. If it seems too wet, knead a bit more flour into it, if necessary.

4. Oil a large bowl and put the ball of dough into the bowl, then flip it over, so the oiled side it up. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

(After the dough has risen, you can punch it down and refrigerate it for a few hours, or overnight. Let come to room temperature before continuing.)

5. Preheat the oven to 500ºF (260ºC) or as high as possible.

6. Sprinkle cornmeal over an 11 x 17-inch (28 x 43cm) baking sheet, or line it with parchment paper. Roll the dough on a lightly floured countertop to approximately the size of the baking sheet. If the dough pulls back, let it rest a few minutes before continuing. Then lift the dough and stretch it out, then place the dough on the baking sheet, fitting it to the edges of the pan.

7. Brush a 1-inch (3cm) swath of just the garlic oil (without pieces of garlic in it) around the rim of the pizza dough, then smear the garlic and the rest of the oil over the rest of the interior surface of the dough.

8. Top the pizza with whatever toppings you wish (see post or suggestions in headnote.)

9. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, until the bottom is cooked and the top is golden brown.

Depending on your oven, you may need to monkey around a bit with figuring out which rack to bake it one. Usually I start mine on the lower rack, to get the bottom cooked, then move it to an upper rack to brown the top. Of course, if you have a pizza stone, use that under the baking pan for a crisper bottom crust.