A couple months ago, I asked Paul to pick up some flour from the store. He came back with a twenty pound bag! I took one look at that giant bag of flour and decided to accept the challenge. I went on a baking spree! Breads, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, cookies! You name it, I baked it. One of my most exciting successes was pizza crust. Since the first time we ate this homemade pizza, my hubby cannot fathom getting pizza from anywhere else! He has been asking for it for a few weeks now, so I decided to reward him tonight :)
The original recipe comes from http://www.favfamilyrecipes.
It took us about three hours from starting the dough to stuffing our faces, but we tend to take our time creating masterpieces. If you put the sauce, cheese and toppings on quickly it could definitely be completed in a little over two hours.
To begin, you must let the yeast sit in warm water with two tablespoons of sugar for 5 minutes.
While that sits, put 3 3/4 cups of flour and a tablespoon of salt into a mixing bowl.
Add 3 tablespoons of EVOO to your yeast mixture, then pour the whole thing into your mixer. Let the mixer run on low for 10 minutes. Then put the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour.
Paul makes a thin crust BBQ chicken pizza. He mixes in water and seasonings (I'm not sure which ones, but if anyone wants to know I can ask him) then whisks it until he gets a good consistency. The chicken we have used so far has been canned, but I would love to make him some fresh chicken next time to see if he likes that better.
I stick to my favorite, stuffed crust! I use 6 pieces of string cheese in the crust, then make a typical pepperoni pizza.
Next it is into the oven for approximately 10 minutes. All of our pizzas cook slightly differently because of our different choices in crust and toppings, so it is good to keep an eye on them while they bake. Here is the before and after of all of our pizzas.
Last but certainly not least, it is time to dig in!!! This time the crust wasn't as crispy as Paul or I would like it, but Gavin thought it was perfect. I plan to look up some ideas on getting a crispier crust for next time :)
Also, Ms. Olivia was not amused that she was stuck eating mixed veggies while we were eating pizza! It was so good, in fact, that our dog managed to pull half of a pizza off the counter and devour it before we could stop him! Maybe next should be a post on dog training?
The recipe is included below, enjoy!
Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 packet of active dry yeast
- 3 3/4 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Add sugar and yeast to warm water in a small bowl or mixing cup. Let sit 5 minutes.
- Mix flour and salt together in the bowl of a mixer. Use your dough hook attachment.
- Add oil to yeast mixture. Pour yeast mixture into the bowl with flour/salt and run at low speed for 10 minutes.
- Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to cover. Put plastic wrap over the bowl and let it rise for an hour in a warm spot.
- After the hour has passed, punch down the dough and divide into 2 or 3 pieces. Shape into balls then lightly brush with olive oil and recover with plastic wrap.
- Let it rise for an additional 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Lightly grease pizza pan, then spread pizza dough out gently. Leave the outer edge thicker for regular crust. Leave the entire thing thin for thin crust. For stuffed crust pizza, line the edge with string cheese then wrap the edge of the dough around it.
- Top with your favorite pizza toppings.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
- EAT UP!!!
Yum!!
ReplyDeleteYum!!
ReplyDeleteHey there! What can I use if I dont have a kitchenaid mixer?? :) -Leann
ReplyDeleteIt is super easy to do without a mixer too! Put the flour mixture into a large bowl, then pour the yeast mixture in. Knead by hand in the bowl until it forms a dough. Turn it out onto the counter then knead for 10 minutes. The first time I made this I did it by hand and it is an awesome arm workout :)
DeleteThat looks delicious, better than Pizza Hut!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I personally like it way better than Pizza Hut :)
DeleteThank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop
ReplyDeleteYou make the crust part look so easy! Thanks for sharing on the "What's for Dinner" linky party!
ReplyDeleteThe crust really isn't too hard! Thanks for stopping by :)
DeleteWe make homemade pizza every Friday night and I have never thought to make a stuffed crust pizza! Pinning to share :)
ReplyDelete~Laurie
You should definitely try the stuffed crust! It is seriously so good :)
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