Pizza is the best drunk/ hangover/family/ kid/party/ game night/fast food ever! Who doesn’t like pizza? Don’t answer that because I don’t want to judge you. I already have to deal with the knowledge that one of the guys I work with doesn’t like cheese.
When this guy told me he didn’t like cheese I asked him if he was allergic to it. He said, “No, I just don’t like it.” I said, “Just cheddar and American right? Surely you like mozzarella, it goes on pizza!” “Nope, I order my pizza without cheese,” he said. I almost fainted! So if you don’t like pizza just keep it to yourself.
Due to my fear of baking I have put off scratch making my own pizza dough since I started cooking. This was my first time ever trying to make my own pizza dough. And I am happy to report that it worked out! It was actually really good! It was thin, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. And the addition of the pepper and garlic were perfect.
I mulled these additions over a lot in my mind because you don’t see additions a lot in pizza dough recipes very often. And usually this means that it’s been tried before, it was not good, and so you should not do it. But in this case it worked and now I wonder why you do not see this practice more often.
Cracked Black Pepper & Garlic Pizza Crust
Ingredients:
-1 and ¼ c. water (lukewarm)
-1 envelope yeast (I used Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast)
-2 tsp. fresh garlic (minced)
-4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
-1 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper (about 80 turns)
-1 tsp. salt
-2 Tbsp. olive oil
In a large mixing bowl stir together water, yeast, and garlic. Add half of the flour and all of the pepper to the yeast water. Stir to combine. Keep adding the flour a little at a time until no more flour will incorporate into the dough. Add olive oil to the dough and knead oil into dough. Turn dough out on to a well-floured surface and knead dough until smooth and elastic while incorporating in a little more of the flour. (I only used about 4 cups of the flour in this process.)
Shape the dough into a ball, place dough ball in an oiled bowl, and cover with a kitchen towel. Place bowl in a warm area until dough doubles in size (takes about 45 minutes). When I raise dough I warm my oven to its lowest setting. Then, I turn my oven off and place my dough in the warm oven on the middle rack. After your dough is double in size punch it down and divide it in half. Press or roll dough out to desired size (I rolled mine out to two ~ 13 inch rounds). Top dough with desired toppings and bake in a 425° F oven for about 17 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before you slice and EAT!!!
Note: I know that a lot of pizza dough recipes say to rest dough overnight in the fridge. I did not do this maybe I will try it next time though, just to see what happens.
Deconstructed Artichoke & Spinach Dip Pizza
Sauce:
-4 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
– ¼ c. sour cream
– ¼ c. Greek yogurt
– ¼ c. mayonnaise
-2 Tbsp. Vegetable soup mix (I used Knorr)
-2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to use. Will cover about two 13 inch pizza crusts.
Toppings:
-12 oz. low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese (shredded)
-4 oz. fresh mozzarella
-one 14 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts (drained and trimmed)
-one 10 oz. bag of fresh spinach (microwaved on paper towels for 5 minutes, squeezed dry, and sliced into a thin strip. Then separated with your fingers.)
-2 oz. fresh baby Bella mushrooms (sliced)
To construct pizza start with an approximately 13 inch round of dough. Top with a thin layer of sauce (spread within ¼ inch of the edge). Top sauce with all cheese (about 16 oz.). Evenly sprinkle artichoke hearts, spinach, and mushrooms over the cheese. Place pizza on whatever you are going to bake it on (sheet pan, foil, or stone). I rolled my dough out onto foil lined parchment paper then placed it on a hot pizza stone (parchment still in place). Bake in a 425° F oven for about 17 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before you slice and EAT!!!
Note: For my other pizza I cheated and purchased the sauce from our favorite local pizza shop PapaTom’s. Then I used the same 16 oz. of mozzarella. Topped with cooked Hot Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, baby Bella mushrooms, and sliced black olives. I baked it the same way as the other pizza.
I need to try this…my kids all love pizza, I am just too lazy/scared to try to make my own dough…..
I was too, but it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Plus you can make them fun little pizzas shaped like angry birds and Hello Kitty!