6352. Twirl pizza dough

I'm not going to lie. I was not a big fan of pizza before I met the hubby. Pizza to me meant Jacks or Tombstone.. maybe Pizza Hut or Dominos. Then I met the hubby and I became a pizza snob. I still will eat Pizza Hut or Dominos if I have to but I prefer the local pizza joints like Cranky Pat's or Sammy's. 

Picture courtesy of Google

Homemade pizza was never a thing growing up, probably because mom wasn't a big fan of pizza. Since meeting the hubby, I have also tried my hand at making homemade pizza instead of buying frozen or ordering pizza. I discovered a really good pizza recipe in my Food Network Magazine that has become our favorite go to recipe for pizza. 

When I saw that Kimberly-Little Chute library was going to teach us how to make pizza as part of the Culinary Thursday series, I was stoked especially since Megan was going to teach us and she's the executive chef at Wildflower Pizzeria (which is too froo-froo for the hubby) and knows a thing or two about food and (hopefully pizza). Then I saw a rumor about the possibility of throwing dough. Sign me up -- pizza making lessons, pizza sampling, and possibly dough throwing what more could a pizza lover ask for.

Since Wildflower Pizzeria is known for their Neapolitan Style Pizza that is what Megan was going to teach us. Apparently to be certified Neapolitan you have to follow all sort of crazy rules and your ingredients have to meet all sorts of standards. Neapolitan pizza is really just crust, sauce, a bit of fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil. Personally it's too much sauce and not enough cheese for me. Megan showed us a traditional Neapolitan pizza along with a few specialty pizzas. The best part of these pizzas is that they are wood fired and take only a minute or two to bake. Hence why we could sample several types of pizza.

After Megan showed us how to make pizza she asked if anyone wanted to try to turn a glob of dough into a pizza crust. For Neapolitan pizza this is a lot harder than it sounds. It requires extensive turning and pushing the dough with your hands while keeping a nice lip to the crust. I managed to kind of create a Neapolitan crust..... but when it was too thin since as soon as I twirled it, holes appeared. It went from being Neapolitan pizza to Swiss cheese in a matter of seconds. However, I have to admit I did not drop my dough while twirling it.

As much fun twirling pizza dough is, I will stick with my Food Network crust. I couple of quick rolls with the rolling pin and I have pizza crust -- none of this push, turn, and twirl non-sense for this girl. However, if you want to feed me some Neapolitan pizza I won't say no.