A Friday Night Tradition-Pizza
May 28, 2007 by Marye Audet
Filed under Uncategorized
With the size of our family, and the fact that it includes 2 teenage boys at the moment, buying pizza is just not an option very often. And honestly, local Texas pizza is just not what I grew up with up on the east coast. The only thing to do was to learn to make good pizza in large quantity.
You can actually freeze this dough up to a month, just thaw it in the fridge during over night and make your pizza as usual. If you are making small crusts you can bake your crusts and freeze them prebaked and go from there. There is nothing like homemade pizza, and it isn’t as difficult to make the crust as it seems. I have even learned to toss it, much to the delight of my youngest children and grandchildren. The older ones just roll their eyes. Maybe if I could just get that New York Italian accent down…..
The longer the sponge sets the more flavorful it will be. I like to start mine in the morning and finish the dough in the afternoon. Oh! And do try new things…cheese filled crust is easily accomplished by rolling the edge over grated cheese which you have spread around the edge in a 1″ wide line. For thick crust roll out a little thicker, rub with olive oil and let rise 30 minutes before baking at 375 for 20-30 minutes , for thin crust roll out thinner and bake at 425 without the sauce or toppings until nearly done (about 10 minutes) and then add the sauce and toppings. We like a mixture of provelone, mozzerella and parmesan for our cheese..experiment to see what your family likes best.
Pizza Crust
- In mixer dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Mix in 3 cups of the flour, 1 1/2 c of each.
- Let sit for 30 minutes to 4 hours
- Stir down and mix in salt, oil, and the rest of the flour. Knead until smooth and very elastic..about 15 minutes. Seperate into 3 or more balls. 3 will make 3 very large pizzas.(May be frozen at this point)
- Let rest 10 minutes so that it can relax and lose some of the elasticity
- Roll out on cornmeal covered surface, to desired thickness.
- Place in pans, rub with olive oil, place toppings on for thicker crust pizza and let rise. For thin crust bake immediately…or for something in between put toppings on and let rise a little!
- Bake as described above.
That looks so yummy, Marye! I miss making pizzas at home:(
Did you ever make a pizza on a foccaccia? You use sliced tomatoes instead of sauce-after it’s baked.. and go from there with what you want/are able to put on. Sliced tomatoes, greek olives and fresh goat cheese, and coarsely chopped fresh basil…mmmmm.
We were vegan for awhile and used the soy cheese with good results since the foccaccia and fresh unbaked ingredients added more flavor.
I love homemade pizza! This looks delicious.
I tried this dough and it was absolutely amazing! Thanks for the great recipe!
so glad you liked it. Friday night I poured a half cup of water in the bottom of the preheated oven to cause steam and the crust came out crispy/chewy..more so than usual and just the texture I have been looking for. Try that next time.
I just want to add that I have begun cooking the crust without toppings on the bottom rack of a 500 degree oven with a cup of water tossed on the over floor to create steam. When the crust is done (about 10 minutes)I pull it out of the oven, add the tomato and toppings and bake at 375 until cheese is bubbly..I like this much better!
Do you let the sponge sit at room temperature or in the fridge?
David- I allow it to ferment at room temp. In the summer I don’t let it go so long..The fermenting helps develop the flavor.
You get major thumbs up for this one. Ive tried about 5 pizza crust recipes, and they were all either too tough or too bready. This one is amazing. I followed your advice to put it in for 10 minutes at 500 degree with the cup of water tossed in there to create steam, and I don’t know if that’s what did it, but the crust came out crunchy, but soft, and absolutely delicious.
Thanks for letting me know, David!
Glad you liked it.