Corn Pizza on Multigrain Crust for #BreadBakers

'Whole Grain breads' is the theme for this month's #BreadBakers challenge. Thanks to Cali's Cuisine for choosing this interesting theme. Any yeasted or chemically leavened bread using at least half of the grains whole is what we need to come up for the challenge.

So I did the easiest thing I can do, opened my Whole Grain Baking cookbook by King Arthur Flour and found this Corn Pizza recipe with Multi grain crust. The crust has cornmeal, barley flour and wholewheat flour along with a little bit of bread flour. Per serving there are 43gms of whole grains in this recipe.

This pizza features corn in 2 forms: cornmeal in the crust and fresh corn off the cob in the topping. The bread flour holds together the crunchy cornmeal and the tender barley flour and makes it easy to roll the crust quite thin for a crisp, light crust that makes a lovely foil for the fresh flavors of the topping.

Pizza uses a pre-ferment, a mixture of flour, water and yeast you make the night before to add extra flavor and extensibility, or stretchiness to the dough.
I got some much needed help to make this recipe. My daughter helped me mix the dough and my mom helped me with the corn. This recipe makes 2 12" round pizzas. I made one entirely with pesto and the other with half pesto and half pizza sauce. Both the adults and kids loved this pizza.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking:

Ingredients:

For the Crust:
Pre-ferment:
Wholewheat flour - 1cup
Instant Yeast - a pinch
Cold Water - ½cup  

All of the pre-ferment
Cool Water - 1¼cups
Whole Cornmeal - 1cup
Whole Barley flour - 1cup
Unbleached Bread flour - 1cup
Salt - 2tsp
Instant Yeast - ¾tsp

For the Topping:
Fresh Corn - 2cups
Onion - ½cup
Garlic - 1clove, minced
Plum Tomatoes - 3 medium, chopped
Fresh Basil - 2tbsp, chopped
Fresh Oregano - 2tbsp, chopped
Pesto - ¼cup (homemade or store bought)
Monterey Jack Cheese - 1cup, grated
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:

• Make the pre-ferment: The night before you want to make the pizza,, combine flour, yeast and cold water in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 12~15 hours. Pre-ferment won't be as bubbly as the one made with white flour, but it will be puffed up a bit and changed in appearance. It is considered 'ripe' at this point and is ready to use.
• To make the dough: The next morning, loosen the ripe pre-ferment by adding the cool water, then add the cornmeal, flours, salt and yeast. This is a very wet dough and is best to mix it in a mixer, so you won't be tempted to knead in too much flour.
• Mix the dough at medium speed for about 5 minutes, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside the dough to rise for 30 minutes.
• When the dough looks noticeably puffy, then it's time to build its strength by folding. Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface and give it a fold. It is going to be very messy to do this, so make sure to flour a bench scraper and your hands. Brush away the excess flour away as you fold, to avoid incorporating raw flour into the middle of the dough.
• Next, fold the dough in a similar fashion, this time from the long ends, to make an envelope. 
• Return the dough to the bowl, cover and let it rest for another 30 minutes/ Repeat this fold every 30 minutes for 2 hours, for a total of 4 folds.
• Divide the dough in half and form each piece into a round. Cover the pieces well with plastic wrap, and let them rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Make the Corn Topping: Boil the corn kernels until tender for 3~5 minutes. Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic; saute till onion turns translucent. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the corn kernels, tomatoes, basil, oregano and season with salt and pepper.
• Make the Pizza: About 30 minutes before you bake the pizza, preheat the oven and a baking stone to 500°F.
• Sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour and pat a piece of dough flat on the flour. Using well-floured hands or a well-floured rolling pin, stretch or roll the dough into a 12" round or 10"x18" rectangular shape. Finish the shaping of the pizza on a piece of parchment paper. Keep flouring your hands and gently press the dough out of the edges of the parchment; the dough will be quite thin. If you end up with any holes, don't worry; just pinch the edges of the hole together and keep going.
• Make the Pizza: For the first pizza, spread 2tbsp of the pesto over the surface of the stretched dough. Sprinkle half of the corn mixture over the pesto and top with half of the grated cheese. Using a pizza peel, deposit the pizza, parchment and all on the hot baking stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, 8~10 minutes. Remove the baked pizza using the pizza peel from the oven. Cut into 8~10 slices and serve immediately. Repeat with remaining piece of dough. 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

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