Daring Bakers: Pizza

This month's Daring Bakers recipe was Pizza & Toppings and we were to show proof that we tossed the dough in the air. Thanks so much to Rosa of "Rosa's Yum Yums" for hosting this month's challenge. She chose the Pizza Napoletana from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. (Please stop by Rosa's site if you'd like to peek at the recipe.)


I made the full dough recipe, split it into four pieces, and froze two of them for later use. My pizza flavors were Skyline Chili Pizza and Chocolate Strawberry Pizza.

I would have to say the results were... well, let's just say I tried. When I got done baking my first crust, my son said "Mom, that's not pizza, that's Texas". Bless his pointed little head.

Sadly, he was right. I present to you, Texas, in pizza crust form...

Before I get into the gory details, let me just explain Skyline Chili real quick.


OK, this "chili" is a Cincinnati thing. There are other Cincinnati Chili chains, but Skyline is my favorite. Honestly, it's really more of a spaghetti dish. The first time I tasted it I was like "What the...?" It's a plate of spaghetti, topped by a meat sauce, and the whole sha-bang is topped with a MOUNTAIN of finely shredded (neon orange) cheddar cheese. The meat sauce has a real distinct taste. (You can take a look-see on the Skyline website.) It's totally habit forming and now I crave it! I don't know what the H they put in the stuff, but I can't get enough.

Aaaaanyway, back to the pizza. I thought it would be a fun experiment to make pizza with Skyline chili and some of that eerily orange cheese.

The second pizza, LOL, was my Sandra Lee-inspired dessert pizza. In true "Semi-Homemade" fashion, I popped open the Snack Packs, sliced some strawberries, and drizzled on the caramel sauce straight from the jar. It was quite tasty and I'm guessing Sandra would have approved.


The verdict? Well, it might be best for everyone involved if I stick to baking sweets.

My dough wasn't right. When I went to pick it up after refrigerating and letting it sit out for 2 hours, it just fell out of my hands, like water overflowing the sink. There was no way I could toss it. I had to ball it up and knead it together a bit before I could toss it. The taste and texture was just OK. I'm guessing I flubbed up somewhere because mine wasn't as awesome as those I've seen posted by others. Also, the chili was probably too wet because my savory pizza crust was undercooked even after 8 minutes. Live and learn, right?

I was able to toss the dough somewhat and my second crust actually ended up round rather than geography inspired.


So, there you go! If you're still with me... thanks. Feel free to stop by the other Daring Baker's sites to see how they fared.

P.S. I'm shamelessly pimping my giveaway, which is two posts below this one. Even if you don't want the book, I'd love to hear about your grade school years. :)