Home Made Pizza Dough

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my love for making pizza at home, and in that posting, I shamefully admitted to being a lazy-cheating-good-for-nothing pizza dough buyer. Just writing that down made me feel kind of dirty. It's that low down feeling that prompted me to buy some yeast and make my own damn dough. I can now say that I am no longer a pizza dough buyer, but rather, a pizza-dough-maker. A notable distinction - mind you! Being the type of cook who likes simple recipes with big pay-off, I must say, this is exactly what making pizza dough is: simple yet totally rewarding. All you need to do is plan a few hours in advance to allow the dough to rise and then just a little more time to let it rest. From this moment on, you will never see me with store-bought dough again! After all, to admit you have a problem is always half of the battle!

Easy Pizza Dough

from smittenkitchen

1 1/2 cup flour (you can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (you may need 1 to 2 TBLS more)
1 TBLS olive oil

Stir dry ingredients together, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil. Stir mixture into as close as a ball as you can. Dump everything onto a floured surface and knead until you have a homogeneous ball. If this is difficult, take the now empty bowl and place over ball and step away for a few minutes.

Knead for a minute or two and place it into a lightly oiled bowl, turn the dough over so that all sides are lightly coated with oil and cover with plastic wrap for and hour or two. It should double in size.

Dump it back onto a floured surface and gently press air out of the dough with the palm of your hand. Fold it back into a ball and place it under plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle pizza stone or baking sheet, with corm meal and set oven to its highest temp.
Roll out dough and place toppings on, erring on the side of skimpy, so not to weigh down pizza.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until just blistered.

I heart pizza

One of our favorite things to do around here is to make our own pizza. It's kind of messy, but so much fun. No arguing over toppings, everyone can customize their own, (and you don't have to do ALL of that nights' cooking...), it's a DIY pizza party. With a scorching hot oven, (500), and 2 pizza stones awaiting, the production line moves along quite nicely, 2 at a time, which keeps hungry pizza eaters constantly fed.

Truth be told, most of the time I buy pizza dough from Trader Joe's. It's good, but fickle. It resists being manipulated and we often find ourselves with small, stubbornly thick pizzas. ( I have discovered that if you remove the dough from it's package and leave it out at room temp in a covered bowl for a few hours, it becomes much more cooperative.). For your toppings, the thinner, the better, so as to not weigh down the pizza dough. Also, I like to drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil before adding toppings and gently rub over dough.

If you are interested in making your own dough, a much more rewarding endeavor, here's is a fool-proof, easy recipe which will yield a small, thin crusted pizza - my favorite!

Easy Pizza Dough
from smittenkitchen

1 1/2 cup flour (you can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (you may need 1 to 2 TBLS more)
1 TBLS olive oil

Stir dry ingredients together, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil. Stir mixture into as close as a ball as you can. Dump everything onto a floured surface and knead until you have a homogenous ball. If this is difficult, take the now empty bowl and place over ball and step away for a few minutes.

Knead for a minute or two and place it into a lightly oiled bowl, turn the dough over so that all sides are lightly coated with oil and cover with plastic wrap for and hour or two. It should double in size.

Dump it back onto a floured surface and gently press air out of the dough with the palm of your hand. Fold it back into a ball and place it under plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle pizza stone or baking sheet, with corm meal and set oven to its highest temp.
Roll out dough and place toppings on, erring on the side of skimpy, so not to weigh down pizza.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until just blistered.

Rosemary and Parmesan Flatbread

Yvette showed me this recipe when I needed something special to make for a dinner party I was hosting. I didn't want to do the typical cheese and cracker set-up, (yawn), to snack on before dinner, but I also didn't have time, (nor energy), to come up with some wild and elaborate concoction. This flat bread fits perfectly into the category of rustic, simple, delicious and best of all, home-made with lots of love.

This flat bread is less doughy and chewy, but more cracker-like. It has a crispiness which is great fun to break apart and dip into a gently softened goat cheese. Depending on the number of guests you are having, you may want to double the recipe, just in case. And if worse comes to worst, you have some left overs for the next day. It will keep nicely in an airtight container for a day or two.

Rosemary Parmesan Flatbread

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, July, 2008.

4 servings

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 TBLS chopped fresh rosemary, plus two 6-inch long sprigs

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Flakey sea salt, such as Maldon

Preheat oven to 450, place heavy baking sheet, or pizza stone on middle rack.

Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center and then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until dough forms. Knead dough on a work surface 4-5 times.

Divide the dough in to 3 pieces and roll out one piece, (keep remaining pieces under plastic wrap), on a sheet of parchment paper into a 1o inch roundish shape, dough should be thin.

Lightly brush olive oil on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Scatter small clusters of rosemary on top, pressing them into the dough. Sprinkle with salt. Slide dough, while still on parchment paper, onto preheated baking sheet or pizza stone.

Bake until pale golden, 8 - 10 minutes. Transfer flat bread, discard parchment, to a cooling rack, then repeat with remaining dough.

Yvette Roman Photography, 2009.