D and I ran the Presidio 10k this morning… 6.2 miles of fun. Honestly though, it is really fun. It was our second time doing this race – last year was much sunnier, but I actually liked the coolness of today, and it paid off – I took over a minute of my time! Score!

This is my week to host the Food Matters Project, and I chose the No Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough and Topping Pizza, the Food Matters Way. I’ve been wanting to try making pizza dough for a while now, but didn’t want all the fuss – this seemed like the perfect solution.  And it was a great choice for carb-loading on Saturday night before the race!

The recipe seemed easy enough… mix active yeast, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and warm water together (I also added a tablespoon of olive oil) and then you let it rise for 6-12 hours.

This is where I messed up, I didn’t read the recipe fully so my dough only rose for maybe 2 hours.  Oopsie!

See? It rose a little, but I think it would have been much better had I left it all day.

Anyways, I took my two hour dough, rolled it as think as possible (really easy to roll actually, not like regular dough) and topped with my favorite pizza toppings… tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and a sprinkling of pecorino. I’m a purist, what can I say?

I then baked it for about 15 minutes, till the cheese was bubbling and the crust was crispy, then I tore some fresh basil and ground some fresh pepper on top.

It was decent, especially considering my lack of rise time.  I should have used a pizza stone for this one though… the center of the dough wasn’t crispy enough for my liking (I did put a bit too much mozzarella on though), but the dough had a pleasant taste and wasn’t overpoweringly ‘whole wheat’ like.

Here’s the thing though. I wasn’t so sure about my skills with dough-making, so I bought a backup at Whole Foods – their pre-made regular pizza dough.  I couldn’t let us starve, you know! I was worried about the fact that I was giving the whole wheat dough no time to rise, but at least I was more adventurous with the toppings! For my “cheats” pizza I decided to try to recreate a seriously awesome pizza we had at Cotogna – I topped it with some garlic sautéed asparagus, olive oil, a really amazing fontina, and lots of pecorino romano and ground black pepper. Sadly, there was no comparison between this one and Mr. Bittman’s. The regular dough was crispy the whole way through and got nice and bubbly on top. Plus the combination of cheeses and sautéed asparagus was so good. Most likely in the future I’ll use the WF dough, and then try different variations of The Food Matters toppings… I’d like to try one with caramelized onions and ricotta salata.

Even though I cheated a bit, the pizza on Saturday night was the perfect fuel for the race today. And the asparagus/pecorino/fontina combo is definitely here to stay. So good. I’m really excited to see how the rest of the Food Matters Project members did, because I’m sure they prepared better than me and actually let their dough rise the correct amount of time!

No-Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

(makes 1 large or 2 small pizzas / 8-14 hours, almost entirely unattended)

1.  Combine the flours, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 cups water (I used warm water and also added in 1 tbsp olive oil).  The dough should be relatively sticky and wet, like biscuit batter.  If not, add a little more water.

2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover, and put it in a warm spot. Let the dough sit for at least 6 or up to 12 hours. (The longer it ferments, the more complex the flavor.)

3.  When you’re ready, heat the oven to 500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone put it in the oven at the same time so it can preheat as well. If not, generously oil a baking sheet or large ovenproof skillet. Dust your hands with a little white flour and fold the dough over in the bowl a few times. It will be sticky, but resist the urge to use too much flour; dust your hands again only when absolutely necessary and use a light, gentle touch. If you’re making small pizzas, divide the dough in half or quarters. Gently press the dough into the skillet or onto the baking sheet; it’s not important that the pizzas be perfectly round, but you do want to be careful not to tear the dough.  Note that pizza dough freezes really well; after dividing it, just wrap it tightly and use it within a couple of months.

4. Brush or drizzle the top of the pizza or pizzas with 2 tablespoons oil, cover, and let sit while you get your toppings together, but no more than 60 minutes or so.

5. Top with your favorite Food Matters Way Toppings (see below) and cook for 8-12 minutes.

Crunchy No-Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough: Substitute 1/2 cup cornmeal (fine or medium grind) for 1/2 cup of the whole wheat flour.

Herbed No-Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough: This works of the main recipe or the variation above. Add 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, oregano, or tarragon, or 1 tsp dried, to the dry ingredients at the beginning of Step 1.

Topping Pizza, the Food Matters Way

Go easy: Overloading your pizza makes the crust doughy and often underdone.

Ingredients to Put On After Baking

 Are Mark Bittman’s recipe names driving anyone else nuts?

A little creativity wouldn’t kill him!!

Also, our very own Kate (of Cookie + Kate, one of my favorite blogs!) has been nominated for Best Cooking Blog in the Saveur Best Food Blog Awards of 2012! You should check her out and give her a vote if you have a moment!