Cooking with Kids

Jolie's Pizza

So, what to do with all that bounty and a rainy summer day?  Cook with kids!  Pizza is one of the best things you can do, because it involves baking, assembling and eating one of kids' favorite foods.  Recently, I did this with my girls in culinary kids' camp at Culina, so I thought I would try it again with my friends' kids while they were visiting from the lake.  It's a good thing that I planned on this activity because we had a totally rained out day at the lake during our week there, so in lieu of TV, movies, or computer time, I dragged them into the kitchen for some happy pizza making.  Once they donned their matching girlie Jesse Steele aprons, they were only too happy to cook!

We used the Ina Garten pizza dough recipe, substituting one cup of white flour for wheat and used the bounty of tomatoes from the garden, some handmade mozzarella, turkey pepperoni and some mixed shredded cheese.  What a blast.  Then we made some for the adults, using some leftover pineapple (from Tropical black bean salsa), prosciutto, onion, mushrooms...you get the idea.  Instead of sauce, I just cooked down some tomatoes, skins and all, added some garlic and used those on the par-baked crust.  I must say, that it worked great.

It's a great project with kids and if you use parchment paper to roll out the dough, you can then transfer the parchment right to your stone or cookie sheet and then pull the paper right off the hot sheet (it cools almost immediately) and there's virtually NO MESS!!!!!!

Don't forget to make a fun playlist of music for your pizza making soundtrack.  Some tunes on mine:

• Louis Prima: Oh Maria, Volare, Buona Sera
• Dean Martin: You're Nobody, Sway, Ain't that a Kick in the Head
• Diana Krall: World on a String, Peel me a Grape
• Jamie Cullum: I Get a Kick Out of You, Get Your Way
• Pink Martini: Hang on Little Tomato, Una Notte A Napoli
• Nat King Cole: Mona Lisa
• Perry Como: Forget Domani, Papa Loves Mambo, Anema E Core, Catch a Falling Star
• The Gaylords: That's Amore
• Peter Cincotti: Ain't Misbehavin', Raise the Roof, You don't Know Me
• Any Sinatra, Dino 
• Tony Bennet: I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Here are some photos from our pizzeria night.

Little Jessica's Margherita Pizza

Nearly perfect crust

FOR THE DOUGH

1 3/4 cups warm (100 to 110 degree) water

2 packages dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

Good olive oil

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading

Kosher salt

1. Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

2. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

3. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.