Homemade Pizza Dough (I’m a convert)
Posted on | July 10, 2009 | 9 Comments
I am a devout pizza fan. I love the stuff and I’ve been meaning to make my own dough for awhile. It’s a bit time consuming so I knew I should reserve it for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I had such a Sunday a few weeks ago and decided it would be the perfect time to try my pizza dough making skills. It was so easy and so worth it. I don’t have a mixer so I did it by hand, with a mixer it’s probably beyond easy. Here’s the amazingly simple dough recipe I followed;
Easy Peasy Homemade Pizza Dough
-Mix 2 teaspoons yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, 3/4 teaspoon honey and 2 tablespoons bread flour to make a thin batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for one hour.
-The thin batter will now be foamy. Add 2 cups bread flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup warm water. Stir until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes until you have a nice ball. Spray bowl with pam or olive oil and let the dough ball sit and rise for another hour.
-The dough will be big and spongey now. Divide ball in half (I wrapped one half in plastic wrap and tossed it in the fridge for later in the week) and do a quick knead to get out an air bubbles. You could then divide it in half again and make two personal pizzas or just make one big one which is what I did. Spray a cookie sheet with pam and set ball onto it, cover with plastic wrap and let rise a final time for a half an hour.
-Prepare your toppings aka the fun part. I sauteed a few pieces of pancetta until crisp and brown. I removed the pieces with a slotted spoon and caramelized some onions in the oil from the pancetta. Oh how I love caramelized onions! When the onions were all brown and yummy I added the pancetta back to the pan.
-Preheat oven to 500. Spread out your dough ball with a rolling pin or just use your hands. I tried a few tosses in the air as well, just to be fun. Put all your toppings on the dough leaving a border to form the crust. I put the caramelized onion and pancetta mixture, a light sprinkling of shredded mozzarella, parmesean and goat cheese crumbles because, lets be honest, you can never have too much cheese.
-Cook in 500 degree oven for about ten minutes. Until it looks melty and golden brown.
-Enjoy! And marvel at how awesome you are.
*Update: I topped the leftover dough with goat cheese and dried herbs and cooked it for the same amount of time. It made a lovely little flatbread that would work with salads or soups for a lite dinner. I couldn’t get it down my gullet fast enough.
Comments
9 Responses to “Homemade Pizza Dough (I’m a convert)”
Leave a Reply
July 10th, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
yum! i made my own dough for the first time a few months ago. agreed, so easy! happy weekend, friend!
July 10th, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
this pizza looks sooo good!
July 11th, 2009 @ 11:57 am
I am a recent convert too. It’s amazing what a difference it makes!
July 12th, 2009 @ 1:21 pm
Shannon used to make Meghan and me homemade pizza senior year. It was the absolute best meal – we always begged for her to make more.
July 12th, 2009 @ 1:33 pm
wow! that looks and sounds amazing!
July 12th, 2009 @ 9:08 pm
Making your own pizza dough is so delicious and deceptively easy. Your pizza looks so mouthwateringly good, I am going to try your recipe next time I make pizza…or tomorrow :p
July 13th, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
i want to try this soooo badly. it is making my belly growl!
July 14th, 2009 @ 6:41 pm
okay…here we go…i’m on step one.
July 15th, 2009 @ 12:41 am
it turned out sooooo good! i topped mine with caramelized onions, heirloom tomato, fresh garlic, asiago, fresh mozzarella, kalamata olives, fresh basil and oregano, and a little olive oil. thanks!