pizza night
I love pizza.
I love homemade pizza.
I love it so much that I want to share the crust recipe I use.
In the beginning months of my regular blogging, I shared my affection for my family’s pizza night. We still have it, although not as often…
This past weekend my husband and son were off camping. I thought I would take the girls to a pizza place that many have recommended. It was pretty good and the excitement of the girls was well worth it, but I like my own much more! So here is the recipe…easy peasy.
You need:
425 pre-heated oven
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 t. active dry yeast
1 t. sugar
4 cups flour
1 1/2 t. salt
2 T. olive oil
1 1/4 cup warm water
First, dissolve water and yeast in mixer bowl (above).
Then add flour, salt, olive oil, and water and mix with dough hook on your mixer.
Knead dough until the lump is nice and soft…put in a bowl sprayed with cooking spray and flip dough around so that the top has oil on it (this prevent the dough from sticking to the plastic wrap).
Let the dough rise for at least an hour. I usually place my dough in the sun or on the stove top and forget about it for 2-3 hours…just make sure the dough has doubled in size!
Press dough into a pizza pan or baking sheet. Be sure pan is sprayed! I also like to make individual pizzas…but one big pizza is fast.
I like to pre-bake my crust, it makes it nice and crunchy! I bake the crust for 10-12 minutes or just take it out when I like the color. A hot oven really makes this pizza great.
Yum.
This is usually the time I round up Simon and he helps with the toppings. We like to use Trader Joe’s Marinara sauce (in the can) and sprinkle with a little garlic salt (I am a huge fan of salty sauce).
Obviously any toppings you like make your pizza tasty. I like tapenade, red onion, and pepperoni…
Yum, again.
What I like about this recipe is that you can make the crust as thin as you like and it bakes really well. You can make 2 pizzas with this recipe for a thin crust. You can also freeze it and when you want to use it, just take it out and let it thaw on your counter. Genius.
It’s also great on the grill.
Let me know if anyone tries out the recipe!