Pizza Dough

This can be made into small pizza crusts and grilled. Doubled recipe will make a large 11 x 17 jellyroll pan size pizza.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup lukewarm water (105–115°F)
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil plus additional for brushing
1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt


PREPARATION

1. Stir together water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over.) Stir in oil, flour, cornmeal, and table salt, then stir until a dough forms.

2. Knead on a floured surface, dusting with more flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes (dough will be moist). I use my Kitchen Aid mixer at medium and the dough hook for 5 minutes.

3. Put dough in an oiled deep bowl and turn to coat with oil. Let dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

4. Punch down dough and divide into 6 balls. Roll out 1 ball of dough 1/8 inch thick (about 7 inches in diameter) on a lightly floured surface. Brush off excess flour, then transfer dough to a lightly oiled baking sheet and cover surface of dough completely with plastic wrap. Roll out remaining balls of dough in same manner, covering with plastic wrap and stacking rounds. Wrap baking sheet with more plastic wrap. Chill dough until firm, about 2 to 4 hours or overnight.

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Best Homemade Pizza Ever!

Well, I stumbled upon a recipe based on something Mom used to make: homemade pizza using frozen bread dough.

I know, I know - this means not everything is made from "scratch," but believe me, this is so easy and so inexpensive compared to delivery that you'll want to make it at least twice a week. That is at least how often we make this recipe now.

The result: a Sicilian style (meaning rectangular), thin crust pizza that takes all of 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to bake. It does mean thawing out the bread dough at least two hours ahead of time so there is a little bit of planning involved. And you can make this vegetarian if you'd like or load it up with meat or even some bizarre combinations.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

1lb loaf frozen bread dough

2 tbsp olive oil

Sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

1 28oz can tomato puree

1 12oz can tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp oregano

Toppings

1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese

Various toppings (pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, ham, etc.)


PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees.

2. Using a 17" x 11" commercial baking sheet (jelly roll pan), spread oilve oil evenly over surface of pan. Place frozen bread dough in middle of pan.

3. Turn oven off. Place pan in oven and leave for 2 - 4 hours until thawed and dough has risen.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5. Pat dough out using hands and turn at least twice to coat with oil. Dough should be able to stretch out to entire edges of pan.

6. Bake dough for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

7. Meanwhile, place onion and small amount of olive oil in medium saucepan and cook for 2 minutes on medium high. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Add tomato puree and paste. Cook over medium-low heat for 8 minutes.

8. Remove dough from oven. Using a spatula, place approximately 1 1/2 cups sauce over surface of dough. Store remaining sauce in refrigerator for another pizza but use within 1 week.

9. Sprinkle cheese over sauce. Add various toppings.

10. Bake at 400 for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, slice and serve!

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