It’s the heart of the summer, and Sonoma County’s  gardens are ripening with  all of our favorite   vegetables and fruits.  It’s time to get out and celebrate the season with your neighbors and friends.

If you want to take a night off from cooking, Relish Culinary Adventures is hosting a Wine & Pizza Meet-up from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21, featuring wood-fired pizza courtesy of pizza guru Andrea Mugnaini of the Alexander Valley.

For just $10, you can enjoy a glass of Edmeades or Murphy-Goode wine, a wood-oven pizza and some   strawberry sorbet at the Relish Culinary Center, 14 Matheson St. , Healdsburg.  Additional wine is available for purchase.

If you are inspired to make your own pizza, here is an interesting  dough recipe from  Steven Raichlen’s “Bold & Healthy Flavors: 450 Recipes from Around the World.” (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)

“This recipe comes from one Amadeo Cinque, the amiable pizzaiolo of the Vela Bianca restaurant in Sorrento,” Raichlen writes. “Signor Cinque makes his pizza dough with milk – an innovation that produces anexceptionally sweet, moist dough.”

Milk-Based Pizza Dough from Sorrento

Makes two 12-inch pizzas

1½ packages (4 teaspoons) dried yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 ½ cups all-purpose unbleached white flour, plus flour for rolling and stretching the dough

1 cup cake flour

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 cup 2 percent, 1 percent or skim milk

Spray Oil

¼ cup cornmeal for sprinkling

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 3 tablespoons warm water (110 to 115 degrees F) in a small bowl. Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

Combine the flours and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk well to mix. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture and milk. Working with your fingertips, gradually mix the flour mixture into the milk mixture. Add flour as necessary to obtain asoft, pliable, but not sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 8 to 10 minutes.

If making the dough in a mixer, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water in the mixing bowl. When foamy, add the milk, flours and salt. Using a dough hook, mix the dough at low speed until it comes away from the sides of the bowl in a smooth, soft, pliable ball. (Add a little flour if necessary.) This will take about 10 minutes.

Using a food processor, add the flours and salt and mix with a plastic dough blade. Work in the yeast mixture and milk, running the machine in bursts until the dough comes away from the sides of the processor bowl in a smooth, soft, pliable ball. When making dough in a machine, you should still turn it onto a floured work surface and knead it a little by hand.

Place the dough in a large bowl lightly sprayed with oil and cover with plastic. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk. 1½ to 2 hours.

Punch the dough down, cut it in half, and roll each half into a ball. Place the balls on a lightly floured work surface and cover with plastic wrap or a slightly damp dish towel. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk again, 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have a baking stone, preheat it as well.

Lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll, pat or stretch each ball to form a circle. Gently stretch each circle with the palms of your hands or over your fists (pulling your fists apart in the manner of a pizzamaker)  to make a 12-inch circle (or a 6-inch circle if making a small pozza) with a slightly raised rim. Transfer the pizzas to a peel or flat cookie sheet generously sprinkled with cornmeal. Garnish the pizzas with your favorite toppings.

Slide the pizzas onto the baking stone or preheated baking sheet. Bake until the crust is puffed and nicely browned, 6 to 10 minutes, turning as needed to ensure even baking.

 It’s the heart of the summer, and Sonoma County’s  gardens are ripening with  all of our favorite   vegetables and fruits.  It’s time to get out and celebrate the season with your neighbors and friends.

If you want to take a night off from cooking, Relish Culinary Adventures is hosting a Wine & Pizza Meet-up from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21, featuring wood-fired pizza courtesy of pizza guru Andrea Mugnaini of the Alexander Valley.

For just $10, you can enjoy a glass of Edmeades or Murphy-Goode wine, a wood-oven pizza and some   strawberry sorbet at the Relish Culinary Center, 14 Matheson St. , Healdsburg.  Additional wine is available for purchase.

If you are inspired to make your own pizza, here is an interesting  dough recipe from  Steven Raichlen’s “Bold & Healthy Flavors: 450 Recipes from Around the World.” (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)

“This recipe comes from one Amadeo Cinque, the amiable pizzaiolo of the Vela Bianca restaurant in Sorrento,” Raichlen writes. “Signor Cinque makes his pizza dough with milk – an innovation that produces anexceptionally sweet, moist dough.”

Milk-Based Pizza Dough from Sorrento

Makes two 12-inch pizzas

1½ packages (4 teaspoons) dried yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 ½ cups all-purpose unbleached white flour, plus flour for rolling and stretching the dough

1 cup cake flour

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 cup 2 percent, 1 percent or skim milk

Spray Oil

¼ cup cornmeal for sprinkling

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 3 tablespoons warm water (110 to 115 degrees F) in a small bowl. Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

Combine the flours and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk well to mix. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture and milk. Working with your fingertips, gradually mix the flour mixture into the milk mixture. Add flour as necessary to obtain asoft, pliable, but not sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 8 to 10 minutes.

If making the dough in a mixer, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water in the mixing bowl. When foamy, add the milk, flours and salt. Using a dough hook, mix the dough at low speed until it comes away from the sides of the bowl in a smooth, soft, pliable ball. (Add a little flour if necessary.) This will take about 10 minutes.

Using a food processor, add the flours and salt and mix with a plastic dough blade. Work in the yeast mixture and milk, running the machine in bursts until the dough comes away from the sides of the processor bowl in a smooth, soft, pliable ball. When making dough in a machine, you should still turn it onto a floured work surface and knead it a little by hand.

Place the dough in a large bowl lightly sprayed with oil and cover with plastic. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk. 1½ to 2 hours.

Punch the dough down, cut it in half, and roll each half into a ball. Place the balls on a lightly floured work surface and cover with plastic wrap or a slightly damp dish towel. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk again, 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have a baking stone, preheat it as well.

Lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll, pat or stretch each ball to form a circle. Gently stretch each circle with the palms of your hands or over your fists (pulling your fists apart in the manner of a pizzamaker)  to make a 12-inch circle (or a 6-inch circle if making a small pozza) with a slightly raised rim. Transfer the pizzas to a peel or flat cookie sheet generously sprinkled with cornmeal. Garnish the pizzas with your favorite toppings.

Slide the pizzas onto the baking stone or preheated baking sheet. Bake until the crust is puffed and nicely browned, 6 to 10 minutes, turning as needed to ensure even baking.

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