This is a “Basic Pizza Dough” recipe I learned a few years ago. The story behind it, is that it was one one the recipes that was developed by Wolfgang Puck for the restaurants California Pizza Kitchen. Just a few ingredients and 60 minutes later you have fresh pizza dough waiting for you to get a little creative. I remember when I first attempted preparing pizza dough from scratch. Seems like it took the whole afternoon, lol! Most of the time that I do prepare this recipe, I end up making 4 smaller pizza’s. I will keep 2 for us and usually share the other two with friends. One fourth makes a perfect thin crust 10 inch pizza. Another method I like for my pizza recipes is to season the rolled out dough lightly and add my sliced or shredded cheese first. If using a tomato based sauce I add it sparingly, then a light layer of toppings. And I always finish it off with a little sprinkle of Parmesan, oregano, red pepper flakes and a drizzle of olive oil. For this blog post, I prepared 3 thin crust pizzas with various toppings and the fourth one I prepared a calzone with a Mexican twist. Filled with my scratch made refried beans, sauteed poblanos and shallots, Chihuahua cheese, Mexican chorizo and more cheese. If you are not using the dough right away, it can be refrigerated for 2 days or it can be wrapped tightly and stored in the freezer for a few weeks. Defrost in a warm spot and it will rise slightly. I found that lately take out pizza is too much money and it never taste as good as homemade, but that’s just my opinion.
This thick crust pizza is about 14 inches, using all the dough. It yields a nice thick crust pizza!
Ingredients
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey ot agave nectar
1 cup warm water, 105-110 degrees
2 1/2-3 cups all purpose bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
1. To make dough,stir and dissolve the yeast with the water and honey. Let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Add the salt, oil, and 1 cup of flour, stir to mix. Gradually add in the enough of the flour until dough forms. I used almost all 3 cups of flour, left some for later.
3. Transfer the dough to a glass bowl that has been coated with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4. After it rises, gently punch down and knead on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into four equal parts or prepare one large pizza. Knead it with your hands to form a smooth dough ball. Transfer a plate and let rise for another 30 minutes. If not going to use right away, refrigerate it or freeze it for a later time.
5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees, roll out dough ball on lightly floured surface. On a large baking pan, add a little cornmeal and drizzle with olive oil. Carefeully fold the pizza dough and transfer it to the baking sheet. Add your toppings(do not overload), bake for 14 to 16 minutes on the lowest rack in the oven. Move pizza to top rack and cook under the broiler for a few minutes if you like the cheese more browned and bubbly.
Tips~ After rolling out pizza dough, I add my layer of cheese first then a light layer of sauce or sliced tomatoes.
It’s handy to keep a thermometer for various recipes
Dough Mixed and ready for the first rise of only 40 minutes.
Second rise of only 20 minutes.
Ready to make pizza, refrigerate for later or freeze for another day.
A layer of roasted garlic paste, mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, Parmesan, oregano and pepper flakes.
Tomato Basil with Roasted Garlic. Add your fresh herbs after it comes out of the oven for extra fresh basil flavor.
A simple sauce with alot cheese!
And with the fourth dough ball, I prepared a Mexican Calzone.
1/3 cup Chihuahua cheese, 1/2 cup refried beans,1 shallot and 1/3 cup poblanos, sauteed, 1/2 cup cooked Mexican chorizo,another 1/2 cup Chihuahua cheese and oregano.
More cheese before I fold over and seal
Sealed and brushed with olive oil…ready for the oven
Bake on a lined baking sheet at 450 degrees F. for about 20 minutes. Hot out of the oven…
Serve hot or at room temperature. Yields up to 4 servings
Roasted Garlic
Preparing a large batch of roasted garlic is easy. Slice the tops off of the bulbs of garlic. Wrap bulbs individually in foil paper. Roast in a baking pan at 400 degrees for about 40 to 50 minutes. If not using right away, let them cool completely as they are in the foil packets, Store ina freezer bag in your freezer. When ready to use, pop in the microwave for less than a minute and squeeze out the pulp.
Here is one of their special pizzas, butternut squash and bacon. I loved the flavors in this pizza, the cheese was creamy with a good bite to it, and how can you go wrong with the classic butternut squash and bacon…anything with bacon on it is a winner in my book! The crust was chewy and somewhere a little bit thicker than “thin crust” pizza. It was a nice change of pace for lunch.
You are right! Bacon, yummy! And butternut squash, yummy again!