Basic Dough for Pizza, Breadsticks, and More!

I got this recipe from Emily S. recipe blog. We had homemade pizza last night. My family liked it. I loved the single rise aspect of this dough. It was perfect for us last night. I mixed it together and let it rise while we were at wrestling practice. When we came home we tossed the pizza together and dinner was served. One thing I need to remember for next is that I want to split the dough into 2 pizza's or pizza and a pan of bread sticks. I used it all in a large jelly-roll pan and the crust was nice and thick. I loved it that way but if I needed to stretch it out and make more I definitely think it could have been stretched. We will be making this again, but it hasn't replaced our all time favorite pizza dough, which takes 2 hours to produce. Great recipe! Thanks Emily for sharing.

Basic Dough-Pizza/Pita/Pretzel/Bread sticks

2 C. Warm Water
1 1/2 Tbsp. Yeast
2 Tbsp Sugar
2 tsp. salt
4-5 cups flour

Mix together until you have a sticky dough that pulls away from the side of the bowl. Let rise 1 hr. (this is the only rise that you have to do with this recipe)

Pitas: Roll small balls of dough into flat circles (about 8 inches), place in preheated oven (about 450) on a hot cookie sheet or baking stone. Bake for 3-5 min, they should puff up in the center, if they don't they work great to fold over.

Pizza: Roll out and top with your favorite pizza toppings, bake 20-25 min at 400 degrees or until bottom is crisp.

Pretzels: Roll into long, thin ropes and fold over to make pretzel shape. Dip in water mixture that is about 1 cup water, 2 tsp baking soda , sprinkle with salt and bake at 400 for about 10 min. Brush with butter and add more coarse salt if desired.

Bread sticks: Roll into 2 rectangles. Place on cookie sheet, brush with butter, garlic, salt, Parmesan cheese, and anything else you want. Cut in to strips. Bake at 400 for 20 or so min. Brush generously with melted butter again after removing from oven. Serve warm. :)

Quick and Simple Pizza

We like pizza. We like tortilla's; so we combined the to for a quick and easy lunch or snack. It is a new family favorite, but I try not to do it to often so that it is still fun when I need a super quick meal for us to eat. I love the new mini pepperoni's they have out now. I am not a huge fan of pepperoni, but the little one's for me seem to be so much better than the big spicy ones and they're easier to eat.

1 Tortilla

1 teaspoon of Pizza sauce (we use homemade pasta sauce)

Cheese

Mini Pepperoni's or other favorite pizzas toppings

In a small fry pan place tortilla and warm the first side. Flip the tortilla to second side and load with toppings. They will melt and get heated as the second side is warming. We like to leave the second side a little longer until it toast a little bit making it more crunchy like a crust. Slide out of pan onto a plate and slice. Enjoy

Pizza Cobbler

This is a recipe I got from my sister-in-law. She makes this frequently for her kids when she and her husband are going out on a date. I took pictures of it, but it is a picture of melted cheese and isn't much to look at. This is a pretty quick little toss together meal if you have the ingredients on hand (which I usually don't so I have to plan for it). If you enjoy pizza this is a quick option with out a lot of fuss.

Pizza Cobbler

Grease a 8 x 8 (I would suggest using a 9 x 13 so that it will cook faster)

Pour a 1/4 cup sauce to cover the bottom of your pan.

1 pkg refrigerated Pillsbury Grand Rolls

Cut the biscuits into quarters, roll each quarter into a ball and place in the pan of sauce.

Top with remaining Pizza sauces and sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cover with foil if cheese starts to brown before the biscuits are done in the center.

*I found cooking them in an 8 x 8 they are really tight and it took almost 40 minutes to cook it through. I think if you use an 9 x 13 it would cook the biscuits quicker 20-30 minutes. We also added olives and mushrooms before topping with remaining sauce and cheese and it turned out great.

Margherita Pizza--LOVE IT!!

No Matter how you shape this pizza it is AWESOME! This is Jack and mine new favorite. I pulled a portion of the Basic Pizza Dough out of the freezer one afternoon and thought I would give this recipe a try. It was so incredible and simple! Jack thought it tasted so good that he asked me everyday when we were having pizza again. I luckily had just planted a large Basil plant in my kitchen window so I didn't have to run to the store.

"The story of Margherita pizza is a colorful one. In 1889, Queen Margherita visited Naples. In her honor, a bread maker dressed up his flatbread to reveal the Italian colors--red tomatoes, white mozzarella, and green basil. Suffice it to say, it was a big hit and the rest is history.

Shape

1 portion of Basic Pizza Dough

Assemble Pizza with:

3/4 cup Roma tomatoes coarsely chopped or sliced 1/4" thick

  (I use the big slicing tomatoes that I always have on hand for sandwiches and it worked great too.)

3-4 oz Mozzarella,  thinly sliced (I personally just used shredded Mozzarella)

Sea salt or Kosher salt to taste (Jack prefers the Kosher salt)

Extra-Virgin olive oil

Bake; Brush with:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Finish with:

8 Fresh Basil leaves whole of chiffonade (thin strips) Chiffonade is our recommendation

Preheat oven and stone to 500

Shape dough, pressing and stretching into a 10-12" round (or rolling with a rolling pin into a thinner 12-14" round.) Lift dough onto a peel that's been dusted with cornmeal or flour (we found cornmeal works best).

Assemble pizza with tomatoes, leaving a 1" margin around the edge; top tomatoes with cheese and sprinkle with salt. Drizzle olive oil in s spiral motion from the center of the pizza to the outer edge. (I personally brush the oil on the dough before I put the toppings and call it good.)

Bake assembled pizza on preheated stone 5-8 minutes, or until the edges and cheese are golden brown. Slide peel under pizza to remove. Brush crust edges with oil (I have never done this).

Finish with fresh basil, slide pizza onto a cutting board, slice, and serve

Basic Pizza Dough-Authentic Neapolitan Dough

I tried this AUTHENTIC NEAPOLITAN PIZZA DOUGH this past week and it was very good. If you like a good rustic and chewy thick pizza crust you might give this one a try. I got this recipe from a Cuisine at Home magazine. I have yet to try a recipe out of it that hasn't gotten rave reviews from my family and extended family (Chicken Piccata's and Japanese style Pork Cutlets). I didn't get a picture of it because it was during time Jack was gone for two weeks to Ecuador and dinners even though I had it planned ahead of time seemed to sneak up on me and the kids. 

Makes three 10-14" Pizzas
Total Time 2 hours

Combine:
1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

Mix:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup bread flour
1 Tablespoon Kosher or sea salt

Add to Yeast mixture:
3 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Pour yeast/oil mixture into flour and knead.


Combine water, sugar and yeast. Poof until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Mix flours and salt in bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with dough hook.
Add oil to yeast mixture.
Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture and knead on low speed for 10 minutes (or the same amount of time by hand). Dough will be elastic ad slightly sticky.
Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl (I spray mine with PAM), turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 hour.
Punch dough down and divide into three pieces; shape into balls and place on a floured work surface. Lightly brush dough with oil, cover completely with plastic wrap and let rise another 45 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 550 degrees (mine only goes to 500 degrees) with stone on lowest rack. *Stone should be preheated for at least 30 minutes
Shaping the dough: The dough should remain undisturbed until you're ready to shape it. With that said, take a ball of dough and using your fingers, pat it out from the center to the edge. Leave the edge a bit think so it puffs when baked. Stretch it further , lifting it by the edge and working your way around the circle. For thinner, crisp crust, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a larger circle. Once shaped transfer dough to a flour dusted peel (I huge wooden looking spatula- I don't have so I use a flexible cutting board), assemble your pizza, and move to the oven. Bake until edges are golden brown and your cheeses are melted.