What to do when your 8-year old nephew comes to visit? Make pizza, of course! Well, not of course, actually. I didn’t think of it until we exhausted Sorry, Monopoly, and gin rummy. But it did turn out to be a brilliant idea as dad had just received a baking stone for Christmas, and my nephew Austin loves pizza.
I told him if he helped me make it and didn’t make too many faces I would put him on my website and he would be famous. That seemed to get his attention. He thought the dough was “slimy and gross” but he loved picking his own toppings, and the finished product was “awesome”.
The following method I patched together from recipes in both Joy of Cooking
and Cook’s Illustrated’s The Best Recipe.
I made two batches of dough, four pizzas in all, with varied toppings.
Next time I’ll be a bit more patient with stretching out the dough so I can get it even thinner. Look to the end of this post for some excellent links about pizza from other food bloggers.
I told him if he helped me make it and didn’t make too many faces I would put him on my website and he would be famous. That seemed to get his attention. He thought the dough was “slimy and gross” but he loved picking his own toppings, and the finished product was “awesome”.
The following method I patched together from recipes in both Joy of Cooking
and Cook’s Illustrated’s The Best Recipe. I made two batches of dough, four pizzas in all, with varied toppings.Next time I’ll be a bit more patient with stretching out the dough so I can get it even thinner. Look to the end of this post for some excellent links about pizza from other food bloggers.
Homemade Pizza Recipe
Pizza dough is a yeasted dough which requires active dry yeast. Make sure the check the expiration date on the yeast package.
You can use all purpose flour instead of the bread flour that is called for in the recipe, but bread flour is higher in gluten than all-purpose flour and will make a crispier crust for your pizza.
You can use all purpose flour instead of the bread flour that is called for in the recipe, but bread flour is higher in gluten than all-purpose flour and will make a crispier crust for your pizza.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas- 1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Olive oil
- Cornmeal (to help slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)
- Tomato sauce (smooth, or puréed)
- Mozzarella cheese, grated
- Parmesan cheese, grated
- Feta cheese, crumbled
- Mushrooms, thinly sliced
- Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced
- Italian sausage, cooked ahead and crumbled
- Chopped fresh basil
- Pesto
- Pepperoni, thinly sliced
- Onions, thinly sliced
- Ham, thinly sliced
- A pizza stone,
highly recommended if you want crispy pizza crust
- A pizza peel
- A pizza wheel
Read More: Homemade Pizza
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