Courtesy of La Fortuna Pizza* - Madison, WI

Here is a riddle: What kind of pizza takes 6 hours to prepare and 5 minutes to make? The best pizza. The secret is to let the doughrest and cook it HOT and fast. The following recipe from La Fortuna explains it all. And if you don't want to fire up the kenmore to 500° on a summer evening - try putting your pizza stone on the grill and use lump style char coal (just make sure it is approved for that use first.

Yield: Two 14-inch pizzas

Preparation:

Mix together flour, yeast, salt and water. Knead until ingredients are well combined. Dough does not need to be smooth and elastic. Divide into two equal-sized balls.

Round balls and place on a lightly floured counter. Place each ball under an inverted bowl. Allow to rise approximately 5 to 6 hours.

Take dough ball and press down to flatten. Pick dough up and work around the edge, pulling and letting the weight of the dough stretch the whole thing out until it reaches the size you are looking for. It doesn’t matter if it is round; a pizza can be any shape.

Pizza Assembly:

Some of La Fortuna’s favorite topping combinations:

• Tomato sauce with fresh mozzarella and fresh basil

• Tomato sauce, sausage, sliced provolone and shaved parmesan cheeses

• Roasted onions, roasted tomatoes, shaved parmesan

• Swiss chard sautéed with garlic and red pepper flakes with goat cheese

For each 14-inch pizza, use slightly less than a 1/2 cup sauce and around 1/4 cup cheese.  If you can’t see the dough beneath the sauce in patches, you have too much sauce.

Bake until edges begin to darken and center is bubbly—depending on oven temperature, around 5 minutes.

*La Fortuna is a mobile, wood-fired pizza kitchen serving up pies at events, workshops and festivals. Look for them at farmers markets and gatherings in the Madison, WI area OR hire them to create a custom, pizzerific event! www.lafortunapizza.com