There are about a billion different ways to make a good pizza. (Because pizza is so easy to do well.) Me, I used to pre-bake my crust to keep it from getting soggy. Now my go-to recipe involves rising the dough for up to a day and ultimately baking the pie inside an olive oil-lined cast-iron skillet.
Josh Elkin has his own technique. The self-taught chef’s recipe is simple, meaty, and turns out what appears to be a tasty pie. Oh, and also, the whole thing rhymes. Because it’s a rap. It’s the Makin’ a Pizza Rap.
I’m no judge of what makes for a good rap, and to my entirely untrained ear, the chorus (“We’re makin’ a pizza…makin’ a pizza…we’re makin’ a pizza…”) gets a bit repetitive. Also, some of the rhymes are a bit of a stretch. But the rap does give pizza beginners a set of non-threatening instructions for making their first pie. Hardly any rising is involved—just ten minutes of resting the dough. The whole thing can be put together from start to finish in less than an hour. Get some toppings together, and you have a successful evening.
Also, don’t worry about trying to write down every single instruction in the lyrics (unless you want to end up with an entertaining recipe card). The instructions for making Elkin’s pizza are in the video’s description and we’ve put them right here for you:
INGREDIENTS
4 cups of bread flour
1 pack of active dry yeast
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1/2 cup of pizza sauce
1/2 cup of cooked sausage
1/2 cup of pepperoni
1/2 cup of bacon bits
1/2 cup of sliced red onions
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 1
Combine the warm water with the cooking oil in a mixing bowl.
Step 2
Combine the salt, sugar, flour and yeast in another bowl.
Step 3
Slowly add the wet bowl into the dry bowl and mix until the dough starts to form. Continue to kneed out the dough until its smooth.
Step 5
Put the dough in a oiled bowl and cover it for 10 minutes.
Step 6
When the dough has rested for 10 minutes, roll it out on a floured surface.
Step 7
Add the pizza sauce, followed by the mozzarella cheese.
Step 8
Top the pizza off with the sausage, pepperoni, bacon and red onions.
Step 9
Bake it in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
[Editor’s note: cook pizza in the hottest oven you can possibly provide. 500 degrees if your oven can safely manage that!]
