Cooking for Zo

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Crust
1 portion of sourdough pizza dough check posting for 7/7/09 or pre-made crust
cornmeal

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Tossing dough
What works best for me is I strongly throw the ball of dough down on a solid flat surface covered with a piece of wax paper until it is large and flat enough for me to easily balance on top of both of my fists. Then I make an X with my arms keeping my fists close together (backhand to back hand, the dough atop of them both) and I fling the dough upwards with my fingers as I simultaneously bring my arms quickly parallel (palm to palm) about 3-4 inches apart. As the dough falls I remake my fists and catch the dough atop them again in the X position and repeat until the dough has formed a 12-14 inch crust.

(Alternately you can lay dough on a solid flat surface covered with wax paper and squish flat with hands. Roll into a ball and slam the dough down onto your solid flat surface covered with a piece of wax paper. Using your fist mush the dough down repeatedly as if you were punching it softly but firmly (this helps get any air bubbles out of it.) Now using your finger tips press and stretch dough until you have formed a 12-14 inch circular pizza skin (you can also make an easier rectangle skin.)

Sauce
Heat olive oil in small sauce pan over medium heat. Saute garlic, cherry tomatoes and prosciutto for 4 minutes and balsamic, Marsala brown sugar and Cayenne and simmer for 1 minute. turn heat to medium low, add fire roasted tomatoes, basil and parsley and let simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Pizza
Bake prosciutto on pizza stone for 3 minutes (remove and slice.) Sprinkle corn meal onto a baking sheet and lay skin on to it. Using a wooden pastry spreading spatula spread sauce from center of crust out to edges. Evenly sprinkle mozzarella over sauce, then sprinkle red onion over mozzarella, spread out prosciutto, sprinkle with mixture of fontina and Gouda and finally dust with oregano and thyme.

Place pizza on baking sheet lightly coated with corn meal. Arrange your oven racks to where they are on the upper and lower thirds of the oven. If you are using a baking stone as we do place it directly onto the floor of a preheated oven for 45 minutes (but you will be less likely to ruin your pizza stone if you place it on a rack at its lowest position.) Place baking sheet with pizza on the lower oven rack and bake for 7-10 minutes, move pizza on baking sheet to upper rack and bake 7-10 minutes (if cooking a second pizza you can put it on the lower rack now on a separate baking sheet.) Slide Pizza off of baking sheet directly onto baking stone and cook for 3-8 minutes or until crisp and bottom is browning (if you were cooking a second pizza you would move it to the top rack on its baking sheet once you slide the first pizza onto the baking stone and of course you would move it to the baking stone once you have remove the first pizza and cooked the second one 7-10 minutes on the upper rack.)

Slide pizza onto a cutting board or baking sheet and use a pizza slicer to cut into 8-10 slices and serve hot with your favorite pizza sides, seasonings and sauces!