What a fun, busy weekend! The activities kicked off Friday evening with a delicious dinner at Sirayvah Organic Thai, a new find in San Carlos. I woke up early the next morning to prepare Ethiopian spiced lamb stew and couscous and then headed to the City to have lunch at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (a classic mana’eesh from Reem’s).
And on Sunday, I threw together this pillowy soft pizza star bread to use up some ingredients in the fridge (including pepperoni and tomato sauce, as well as bacon fat and fresh herbs, which go into the dough). After, I went to the Farmers Market at Bay Meadows and an Oakland Athletics versus Los Angeles Angels game (where I snacked on, naturally, fresh-baked pizza star bread).
But the excitement isn’t over yet. I’ll soon be flying to Southern California to attend a concert on the beach – what a great start to summer 2018!
- ¾ cup + 3 tablespoons water
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons bacon fat
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 egg, beaten
- ⅓ cup tomato sauce (see notes)
- 3 ounces sliced pepperoni
- dried chili flakes (optional, for garnish)
- In a large bowl, heat water until warm - about 30 seconds in the microwave should do. Add the yeast and sugar. Whisk together until thoroughly combined and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the rest of the dough ingredients (bacon fat through rosemary) to the yeast mixture, stirring everything until it comes together to form a shaggy ball. Then knead the dough by hand (or with a dough hook attachment) until it’s smooth and elastic - this will take about 10 minutes (or less if using a stand mixer). Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into 4 equal pieces.
- Using a rolling pin, roll one piece into a circle, about 10 inches in diameter, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the entire surface with the beaten egg, leaving a 1" border around the edges. Spread one-third of the tomato sauce in an even layer over the top of the dough and then arrange one-third of the pepperoni in a single layer on top. Repeat with remaining portions of dough, leaving the last circle bare.
- Place a 2" round cutter in the center of the stack of dough. Use a sharp knife to cut dough into 16 wedges, leaving the area inside the round cutter intact.
- Using your hands, gently twist two adjacent wedges away from each other a few times and pinch ends to seal. Repeat with remaining wedges of dough.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Let dough rise for 15 minutes and then brush top of loaf with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle with dried chili flakes, if using.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
[…] classic ingredients like pepperoni or sausage—no matter what flavor combination you choose, this pizza star bread will be an instant hit at any dinner party. Read on to learn more about how to make yours from […]