Homemade Pizza

Sorry I don't have pictures, I'm having some techincal difficulties.

We really enjoy making homemade pizza here on a fairly regular basis. I really like this dough recipe better than the recipe from my bread machine. To see the original recipe, click here.

Homemade Pizza Recipe

Prep time: 2 hours Cook time: 30 minutes 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 (check the expiration date on the package)

3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)

I use 1-1/2 cup all-purpose and 2 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Pizza Ingredients

Olive oil

Cornmeal (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)

Making the Pizza Dough

1 In the large bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer, add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.

2 Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.

3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with a dry towel. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer, a longer rise will improve the flavor). If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then turn off the oven. Let the oven cool till it is just a little warm, then place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.

At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Preparing the Pizzas

1 Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

2 Punch the dough down so it deflates a bit and divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

3 Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese

4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form a lip.

5 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.

Repeat with the second ball of dough.

6 Lightly sprinkle your pizza peel (or flat baking sheet) with corn meal. Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the pizza peel. If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.

I typically let the crust bake by itself for 10 minutes so that it cooks thoroughly.

7 Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.

8 Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking stone in the oven (watch your hands, the oven is hot!). Gently shake the peel to see if the dough will easily slide, if not, gently lift up the edges of the pizza and add a bit more cornmeal. Slide the pizza off of the peel and on to the baking stone in the oven. Bake pizza one at a time until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese.

Yield: Makes 2 10-12-inch pizzas.

Zucchini Pizza

This interesting recipe comes from the South Bend Tribune. It is the most unique recipe I have found that helps use up some of our large zucchini crop.

Zucchini Summer Pizza

4 cups finely shredded zucchini or yellow summer squash

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

salt to taste

I added garlic powder and Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put shredded zucchini or squash in a strainer and lightly salt. Let stand 15-30 minutes to allow water to drip out. Press so all remaining liquid comes out of squash.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine squash, flour, cheeses, eggs, and seasonings. Mix well.

Spread the mixture into a greased and floured (or cornmeal-dusted) jelly roll pan. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven. (I used a parchment lined pan.)

Remove the crust from the oven and change the oven's temperaure to (low) broil. Brush the top of the crust with olive oil, then broil the crust for 3 to 5 minutes until the top is lightly browned.

Allow the crust to cool slightly and slide spatula underneath al edges and under the middle. Place a largebaking sheet over the top of the crust and gently flip the crust so that the bottom of the crust is now facing upwards.

Because it can be difficult to flip the evenly, it may be necessary to cut the crust. To omit the flipping is okay, but the crust won't be as crunchy.

Brush the top of the crust with oil and broil another 3 to 5 minutes until the top is browned. Cover with toppings as desired and Alfredo Sauce with Sun-dried Tomato and Spinach (recipe follows).

Alfredo Sauce with Sundried Tomato and Spinach

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons chicken base (I used a boullion cube)

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes

8 ounces ricotta cheese (I used the smallest container I could find)

20 ounces half and half (I chose to use the smaller 16 ouce container)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

white pepper, to taste

1 cup fresh spinach (I cut it into small strips)

Italian seasoning to taste

In a medium-sized saucepan, add garlic and butter on medium heat. When butter is melted, add flour and chicken base and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and ricotta cheese and whisk together while adding the half-ad-half. AddParmesan and whisk until smooth. Add pepper and seasonings to taste. Add spinach and simmer on low until heated through.

Cast Iron Stuffed Pizza

My husband Dave is the creative cook in our family. This is his most recent creation.

Cast Iron Stuffed Pizza

Dave used the pizza dough I made and rolled it out to fit in the cast iron skillet. He baked it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. (I'll brush some olive oil all over the dough at this point but that's optional) Then, added pizza sauce and sausage (or your favorite pizza topping). He had some left over dough so he rolled that out and placed it on top of the sauce and sausage. Bake that for another 10 minutes to keep the dough from getting soggy. Next, add more sauce and toppings. Cover with cheese and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and Parmesean cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, about 30 minutes.

Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce

I needed something to use the last of our tomatoes from the garden. We enjoy making our own pizzas & this is a very easy sauce recipe.

Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce

1/3 cup olive oil

2 cup finely chopped onions

8 cups peeled (I left skins on), seeded, coarsely chopped tomatoes (put through blender, if decided)

12 ounces canned tomato paste

2 tablespoons oregano, crumbled

2 teaspoons basil, crumbled

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

Heat oil in large stainless steel pan, 6-8 quarts. Add onions and cook over medium heat until transparent. Add garlic and cook another minute. Stir in tomotatoes, paste, oregano, basil, sugar, salt, & pepper; bring to a boil. Then simmer, uncovered for an hour or until thick. Stir occasionally. Sauce should be thin and fairly smooth. Remove bay leaf. Taste and season. May be canned or frozen.

Calzones

A couple of weekends ago my husband & I helped the youth at our church make pizzas for a fundraiser. We had some dough left over so that started my pizza making frenzy. I made a BBQ chicken pizza, a white or alfredo chicken pizza, & calzones with sausage & peppers.

I don't have the recipe for the yummy dough we used but I do have a pretty good recipe for the bread machine. This recipe came from my Oster bread machine book.

Pizza Dough

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cup bread flour

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (optional)

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (optional)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons regular active dry yeast or bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan in the order listed. Select whole wheat dough cycle.

Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Divide dough in half. Pat each half into 12-inch circle on greased cookie sheet with floured fingers. Spread with favorite toppings. Bake 18-20 minutes or until crust is light brown.

To make BBQ Chicken Pizza: saute 1/2 chopped onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until transparent. Cook 1 chicken breast along with garlic, cumin, cilantro & chili powder (all season to taste). I used Sweet Baby Ray's sweet vidalia onion BBQ sauce, then added chicken & onions & topped with cheddar cheese.

To make White (Alfredo) Pizza: saute 1/2 chopped onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until transparent. Cook 1 chicken breast along with garlic & Italian seasoning (season to taste). After rolling out pizza dough, top with your favorite Alfredo sauce, then add chicken, then add mozzerella cheese.

Bruschetta Pizza

Every Wednesday I try to bring something fun to share at our small group meeting. Last week I was trying to think of something I could bring & my husband suggested trying to make a pizza out of the extra bruschetta I had. This was very easy & everyone enjoyed it. Like any pizza, you could add any topping you want but keeping it simple worked well.

Bruschetta Pizza

Pizza dough (I use my bread machine & make my own)

Brushetta (I used a large can of diced tomatoes with their juice & added 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, & 1 tablespoon parmeasan cheese)

artichoke hearts, diced (optional)

mozzerella cheese

1 tablespoon garlic powder

I rolled the dough out & baked it in a 9x13 in baking dish so that it would be easier to travel with but you could easily bake it however you would normally bake a pizza. I baked the dough for 10 minutes at 350 degrees so that it wouldn't get soggy.

Next I added the tomatoes & artichokes (if using). Top with mozzerella cheese & sprinkle the garlic powder on top of the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted & golden brown.