My dad can cook two things (that I’ve ever witnessed): grilled cheese (who can’t?) and sopapillas! (Oh actually, I think he made me pancakes from a mix once for my birthday. In the shape of my age (18) of course.) But sopapillas are all we need! He is a native of New Mexico and this is his traditional dish. Funny thing is I called home for a last-minute recommendation on how hot to heat the oil (I’m a deep fry novice) and my family was at that exact moment finishing their own batch of sopapillas! My family loves them. It’s our go-to meal for company and for comfort! Family lore has it that this recipe came from (how they obtained it is questionable) a popular restaurant in Los Alamos. Fried dough stuffed to the brim with southwestern fillings-all I know is that they are awesome!
This was also my first experience with lard. While you can use shortening in its place, lard is a more natural source of fat. Our grandmothers grew up on the stuff- it can’t be that scary! It took me three tries to find a grocer that actually sells the stuff and you have to make sure it is not hydrogenated or you are probably better off with shortening. Ideally, you could render your own, but since I don’t have a pet hog I settled for store-bought. Unless you have a reliable source of pure lard, using non hydrogenated shortening is probably your best bet.
But back to the sopapillas! As a savory dish they are torn open and stuffed with Green Chili Ground Beef, refried beans, Spanish Rice, lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and salsa. For dessert try them sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, dusted with powdered sugar, or drizzled in honey!
INGREDIENTS
3 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. lard or shortening
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
5 1/2- 6 cups all-purpose flour
canola oil, for frying
DIRECTIONS
1. Add sugar to water. Sprinkle in yeast and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, lard, and 1 cup flour. Mix thoroughly.
3. Continue adding flour, 1 cup at a time and mixing well after each addition, until dough cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead 5 minutes. (You may need to add more flour to prevent dough from sticking.)
4. Rub dough with a small amount of lard or spray with cooking spray. Cover, set in a warm place, and let rise 1 hour.
5. Push down and divide in half. Roll out half of dough at a time to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 3″ or 4″ squares.
6. Preheat canola oil in a large pot on high heat. To test oil, drop a small piece of dough into the hot oil. It will quickly puff and turn brown at the right temperature.
7. Fry dough by gently placing the squares into the hot oil. Continuously spoon oil over top of the dough until they puff and are light golden on both sides.
8. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towel. Best served hot. (If you are frying a large batch you might want to keep them warm in a 200 F oven until ready to serve.)
Serve with green chili ground beef, refried beans, Spanish rice, shredded cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, and salsa for stuffing. Also delicious sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, powdered sugar, or drizzled with honey.
I did it! I finally created a pizza crust that I am proud of! For a long time now I have been attempting one dough recipe after another, only to be repeatedly disappointed. So I began researching pizza. (And devoting an extensive amount of time and stress in doing so. Homework is nothing compared to the quest for recipe perfection.) I read what felt like millions of different opinions on the right proportions of certain ingredients, and what methods of shaping, and baking, and topping work best. In the end I decided I couldn’t trust just one. And thus evolved my first original recipe to debut on this blog! This is my creation.
As you know, I am a believer in the necessity of eating whole grains, limiting our refined carbohydrate intake. Some people comment that if you are going to eat pizza, which is infamously unhealthy, what is the point in trying to make a healthier dough? First of all, not all pizzas are grease bombs. While I can’t vouch for any of the fast-food take-out versions, when you make your own you have control over what you are eating and there is significantly less danger. So I wanted to make a crust that had at least some nutritional value. This meant using whole wheat. Whole wheat is dense and sometimes even bitter. Pizza dough must never be dense, but rather light and airy and delicate. The solution? Using half all-purpose (or bread flour) and half WHITE WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR. Now I know this seems like a contradiction. How can whole wheat be white? I too was suspicious of what seemed like yet another marketing ploy to trick us into thinking we were eating something good for us. The name is rather misleading- it is actually 100% whole wheat, just of the albino variety and ground finer. Direct from the manufacturer: “Milled from white whole wheat, rather than red, unbleached King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour has all the fiber and nutrition of traditional whole wheat, with milder flavor and lighter color.” The result was astounding: you could not tell that you were eating an ounce of whole grain! (And in the case of a pizza crust this is a very good thing!)
I have detailed the steps I took to achieve what I consider the best crust I have ever made. If you are too casual and just toss ingredients together you will not end up with the desired result. This dough only takes about an hour to rise (although could be left longer in the refrigerator if you want to make it ahead of time). During that hour you can be prepping your toppings and preheating your oven and pizza stone. A pizza stone will make a world of difference! They are only about 12$ and will allow you to recreate that brick-oven baked heavenly crust!
All pizza dough recipes appear very similar, but slight variations make all the difference. And while I am sure you will enjoy this crust- it might not be the ultimate taste and texture for you. Baking with yeast is certainly an art, and if you devote a little time on the subject, you develop your own preferences and techniques.
Pizza Dough
INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm water (110-120 degrees F, over 120 degrees will kill your yeast)
2 tsp. honey
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup bread flour (+ approx. 1/4 cup more for kneading)
1 cup white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour*
1 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
DIRECTIONS
1. In a glass or plastic bowl (metal can negatively affect yeast), dissolve honey in warm water. Add yeast and let sit (at least 10 minutes) until yeast is active and bubbly.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, and salt. Create a well in the center.
3. Once the yeast mixture is ready, pour it into the well in your flour mixture bowl. Add the extra virgin olive oil. Using a spatula and then your fingers, mix the dough until it pulls away from the side of the bowl.
4. Knead the dough on the counter top, adding up to 1/4 cup more flour just until it is no longer sticking to the counter and has a smooth texture. (You can brush a little olive oil onto your fingers for the kneading process.)
5. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in size, about an hour. You can test if your dough has risen enough by poking it with a finger. If the imprint stays, then the dough is ready.
6. Deflate the dough into a ball, and let it rest on your counter for at least 10 minutes before you create the crust.
7. Preheat the oven and pizza stone (sprinkle with corn meal or semolina flour before placing in the oven) to 450 degrees F. This will take 15-20 minutes. A hot pizza stone is the key to getting that puffy evenly cooked crust.
8. To shape your crust you will simply use your hands and gravity. DO NOT use a rolling pin- it will press out all of the air that has formed in your dough. Take the ball of dough in your hands and simply begin pulling it around the edges. It should start to stretch easily. Rotate it around your first making sure you are stretching each side evenly, so that you have a round crust. The middle will be fairly thin, and you want to leave the edges thicker so they will puff up.
9. Now you have several options. First is to open the preheated oven and place your crust directly on the stone. Then add your sauce and toppings and close the oven. This allows a fair bit of heat to escape the oven though so it is not ideal. The second option is to place your crust on a sheet of parchment paper (dusted with cornmeal). You can then add the sauce and toppings. Carry the pizza to the oven and place it on the stone (parchment paper stays beneath it). This makes removing the pizza from the oven easy as well-you simply pick up the parchment paper! Last of all, if you own a pizza peel, place your crust on the peel (dusted with cornmeal), add your sauce and toppings, then use the peel to slide it onto the pizza stone. Once it is cooked you will slide it off the stone back onto the peel. If you are cooking multiple pizzas the second and third options are best, as they do not require you to remove the stone from the oven and it will stay hot.
10. Bake your pizza for approximately 10-12 minutes, until the crust is puffy and starting to turn golden brown, and the cheese is melted and bubbling up.
11. Once you have removed your pizza from the oven, let it rest for a few minutes before slicing it. You can slice right on the pizza stone if you wish. And enjoy!
NOTE: Carefully follow any directions for cleaning your stone. Soap should not be used- only hot water.
*You’ll need to add some extra flour during the kneading process if you use all white flours (because white flour absorbs less water than whole wheat flour does)
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