Pizza Dough

Jacob and I love making our own pizza.  I started making it with my normal bread recipe, with dough that was left over because 2 people do no need 3 loaves of bread everytime.  But he was unhappy with the texture so I went searching for a good one.  We love the idea of the no-rise pizza dough, as we are both pretty impatient, especially Jacob and if I’m lucky enough to get him in the kitchen I want to keep him there!  I found the recipe here, but it makes two pizzas for us, so here is the “half recipe” or the recipe for one pizza pie dough.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 T yeast
• 3/4 C water
• 1 T sugar
• 1 1/2 T oil
• 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 C flour (it’s always an estimate, especially when adding in wheat flour).

Proof the yeast in warm water with some sugar for energy.  Add the oil, then mix in enough flour for the dough to not be sticky, like any bread.  Then knead the dough until it is smooth.  One might let it rest for a bit, but we just roll it right out on our counter then transfer it to a corn-mealed pizza stone.  Top with favorite toppings. Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes.

One awesome thing about breads is that ingredients are always on hand (at least in my house).  The toppings are where a shopping trip might be in order…or not.  One day I made dough, just to realize that we were out of mozzarella cheese, oh no!  But we always have a 2 lbs block of cheddar sitting in the fridge, yeah we love that cheese.  I was so worried it would ruin our dinner, having that yellow mess on our pizza, but it turns out using what you have can lead to great discoveries.  Cheddar, Ham, and Pepperoni are our new favorite toppings.  Jacob never liked ham on a pizza without pineapple but he is now converted!  Be sure to experiment explore and toss some veggies on there too.