I think I've found a good recipe for pizza dough! I REALLY liked this one and the next time I made it, I added some garlic salt and Italian seasonings. I will add a bit more next time, not quite enough to taste. I wasn't sure just how much to put in so I just dumped. I really like just dumping in spices and ingredients, SOOOO much fun!!! You NEVER know how it's gonna try out! That's probably why when I make something the second time around, it never tastes the same as the first time! :)
Mix flour, salt and yeast together, then make a well in the center of flour...
Add the warm water...
Mix together... You could knead this, but I didn't have the time to knead it by hand! My KitchenAid mixer worked just fine! :)
Next, add the olive oil and mix again...
Let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in size. This is almost triple in size! I cheat, I warm my oven up for about 10 minutes, then turn it off. Then I put in my dough that needs to rise... That way it is nice and warm! Ready to go! (make sure it isn't too hot though! Or it will cook the dough and not rise it like you want!)
Sprinkle your HOT stone or baking sheet with yellow cornmeal
Roll it nice and thin on LIGHTLY floured surface... You don't need a whole lot of flour when rolling this out...
Then place on already hot stone/pan... On top of the yellow cornmeal
Put sauce all over, leave enough room around the edges for your crust!
The kiddos wanted pepperoni, so I put some pepperoni on...
Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese! The trick, don't over load it, your crust won't cook if it is too heavy!
Cook until cheese is all nice and melted!
Pizza Dough
4 1/4-1/2 cups flour (you need atleast 4 cups, you may need to add up to 1/2 cup more though)
pinch of salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
Mix all together, make a well in the middle and add 12 oz WARM water, mix for a minute, then add 2 oz olive oil. Mix until you get a nice dough. (Not sticky or it won't be good!)
Place in bowl (or if you are using mixer, keep it in bowl) cover with a dish towel and place in a nice and warm, draft - free place. Let it rise for 30-40 minutes. (Remember, I like to let it rise for an hour! But you can only do it for 30 minutes if you are running short one time!).
Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Make sure you put your pans in the oven as it is warming up! You want your pans to be HOT when you put the dough on them!
Once the oven has reached the temp, pull one pan out and sprinkle yellow cornmeal all over.
Remove dough from bowl once it has risen, place a small amount of flour on counter and knead the dough for a minute or two. Break in half and roll the first half to the size you want.
Place on pan/stone and then add the sauce and the rest of the ingredients you want!
Continue with other half. Place in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted!
*The longer you let your dough rise, the BETTER!!! :) First time I made it, I let it rise for just over an hour, YUMMY! The second time I only let it rise 45 minutes, you could definitely taste the difference between to the two. Can't really say what it was, but it was different! Not bad, but gonna make sure it sits for atleast an hour! :)
Also, add spices to this before you add the water. I used garlic salt and Italian seasonings.. yummy...
Also, if you make it into a pizza, you can use string cheese, put it around the crust and then fold the crust over. You've got your very own stuffed crust pizza!
You could even make a garlic butter (with softened butter and garlic salt) and brush it over the pizza crust after it's done baking. Very tasty! :)
I like to use spaghetti sauce for my pizza sauce. I use the non-chucky regular kind. I never usually have pizza sauce on hand and always have use for spaghetti sauce! :)
