My Own Weekly Slice of the Jersey Shore

By Melissa McCart
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

When it comes to making pizzas at home, I take the Wolfgang Puck approach: Focus on good ingredients. Although I may not love Puck's favorite smoked salmon, dill cream and caviar creation, I view a home-cooked crust as "a vehicle for unique toppings and striking flavor combinations," as Adam Kuban describes California-style pizza on his blog, SliceNY.com.

Why make pizza at home when there are now so many good pies to choose from in Washington? I started because of my friend Dave Gallo, whom I had grown up with on the Jersey Shore and who has lived here since 1995.

In response to the District's slim pizza pickings in the days before 2 Amys and more recent restaurants that have stoked residents' cravings, Gallo started playing with dough recipes to make what he remembered as Jersey pizza. He consulted Cook's Illustrated and Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking." After hundreds of tries over several months, he reported that his pizzas were a close approximation.

Boy, did I need it. When I moved here from New York a couple of years ago, I missed the pizza more than any other food in that city. New York restaurants were super-expensive; I was living on a teacher's salary, so I scraped by. Pizza has long been the Big Apple's bite for the masses. And if you know where to go, it's damn good.

In Brooklyn's Cobble Hill, my favorite by-the-slice place was My Little Pizzeria, where I would request an accompanying lime wedge for a tart and salty juxtaposition. At Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood, I admired the old-school, perfect-char crust produced by its coal oven. At Franny's on Flatbush Avenue, I savored the best clam pizza around.

The same year I moved, my parents retired to Pawley's Island, S.C., after decades in New Jersey, where the pizza holds its own next to New Haven-style and New York pies.

That meant no more easy access to the loudest pizza place ever: Pete & Elda's in Neptune. There, an extra-large pie was as thin and crisp as a Saltine, served with a choice of anchovies or cherry and jalapeño peppers, unless you were a wimp and asked for it plain. It was a foot and a half wide, which sounds big, but it was so thin that it wasn't as filling as one might think.

I was skeptical that my friend Dave could make a pie that even came close to what we used to get in Jersey. But he did. And what he taught me has fueled my obsession.

During the first lesson, he told me to forget about the char and texture of crust from a brick oven; a home oven can't replicate it, though using pizza stones on the top and middle shelves helps. Besides, there are variables to make the crust great. Use more yeast than you think is needed; use honey to let the yeast bloom. Play with the amount or type of salt (I have about a half-dozen kinds) and flavored oils. And above all, keep it simple.

Making pizza at home is rarely boring, which means it's a nice option when cooking for one. It provides a canvas to show off the cook's craving, be it for greens, shellfish, pork, veggies -- or cheese, of course. And among the people I know, 10- to 12-inch pies that claim to be more than a single serving are never quite enough to feed two hungry eaters.

I usually make pizza in my small apartment oven once a week, often on the weekend, so I'll have more time to prep ingredients and let the dough rise. The Sunday farmers market at Dupont Circle inspires me, too, since pizza is the perfect means for showcasing what's in season.

After combining dough ingredients in the food processor, I love the 10 minutes or so of kneading on a floured surface, during which I will muse over my week's to-do list, play out a conversation I've been meaning to make time for or blow off steam from the day, all the while feeling for the spring and give under the heel of my hand.

When the dough feels right, I divide it in half, coat the halves in olive oil and transfer them to bowls to rise for an hour or so. If I don't use all the dough in one session, I'll wrap and store it in the fridge to make a fast midweek dinner.

Even though I've made pies many times, I sometimes still need to run questions by Dave via Google Chat:

Me: Making dough. What if it's too sticky?

Him: Add flour.

Me: I'm only using one round. How do I have to store the other one in the fridge?

Him: Wrap it in plastic?

Me: When I refrigerate it other times, it comes out crusty and it's not as good as when I make it in one session.

Him: It's because your fridge is older than you. How are they coming out of your oven?

Me: Terrific, but it's kinda smoky in my apartment.

Him: It's alright since it's just you. When are you going to redo your kitchen??!

Because I write about food and restaurants, I also have been able to ask nerdy pizza questions of the chefs who make pies for a living. Bebo's Roberto Donna was the most brusque: How could I not know about "00" flour and San Marzano tomatoes! But Rustico's Frank Morales talked about the effects of sugar vs. honey in the crust, whether to let the dough rise overnight and anything else I wanted to quiz him on. He's very patient.

For home cooks, the pros recommend the California-style approach, with its emphasis on ingredients. My favorite these days is a three-cheese pie -- red or white -- which gives me an excuse to visit Cheesetique in Del Ray and talk shop with the cheese ladies behind the counter.

When I'm feeling really nostalgic, I'll make a clam pie. Not only does it remind me of Brooklyn, it also reminds me of going to the fishmonger with my dad. At Cannon's in Georgetown, the fishmonger plays castanets with the clams like they do back in Jersey, to make sure the mollusks are still alive and well at the time of sale.

I miss those days. But making my own pizza makes me feel a little bit closer to home.

Melissa McCart is a high school English teacher who writes the Counter Intelligence blog at http://melissamccart.wordpress.com.