PIZZA!

Homemade, hand-tossed...my nephews were very willing guinea pigs as I tried out a pizza dough recipe; I had two or three that I experimented with to see which I liked best - taste, texture, "toss"-ability... :) Turns out, simple is best:

Pizza Dough
1 tsp/pkg fresh yeast
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
6 cups flour
3 Tbls salt
water

Put yeast, oil, and 2 C cold tap water in bowl of a stand mixer; mix using dough hook on lowest speed 5 minutes or until yeast has completely dissoved. Add flour; mix another 5 minutes. Cover bowl loosely with a damp towel. Let dough rest and rise for 20 minutes.

Add salt; mix on low speed another 5 minutes. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. For thin crust pizzas (12") divide into 6 equal portions. I divided mine in to 4; for an even thicker crust, divide it in thirds. Roll each into a ball and place on a floured tray (or dust it with cornmeal). Cover the tray tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at least 4 hours at a warm room temperature. The dough balls will be soft and pillowy.

Roll, pat and/or toss each dough ball forming it into a 12" circle. (Work from the edges first, not the center, or you'll end up with a very thin center...or a hole!) Place on a pizza stone, pizza pan or use a cookie sheet. -- dust it with cornmeal if desired.



With a thicker crust, you may want to bake the crust alone for 4-5 minutes before adding toppings, especially if you're using a solid pan (some pizza pans have holes which typically makes for a crispier crust).







Add your choice of toppings. Bake @ 425° for 10-12 minutes. Check the pizzas earlier, especially if they're thin crusts which may bake faster. Thicker crusts--and toppings!--of course take a bit longer, maybe 15-18 minutes.

You can use the same recipe to make calzones...just fold the dough in half over the ingredients, and seal the edges before baking. You'll probably need to adjust the baking times too - longer, since it's thicker. Flip it halfway through if desired.









Here's a simple recipe if you're making your own sauce:
Basic Tomato Pizza Sauce
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbls parsley flakes

Or...skip the sauce. Spread a well drained can of petit diced tomatoes on the crust instead, then add other toppings.