Pizza Date Night!

I was Face-timing my best friend Katie on Sunday morning and flipping through my cook books to find a recipe for Sunday night dinner. JJ was coming home from Arizona so I wanted to have the meal complete right before he arrived home. Little did I forget to read… dough takes an hour and a half to sit… then another hour to rise in the saran wrap. The dough took me two times to make right… and the sauce came out really thin so I had to customize. I think my issue with the sauce was missing the food mill … I went to two different places to find it but no luck…so I attempted to do it by hand. Instead of just using sauce I ended up adding chopped tomatoes on top with a little mozzarella (JJ is lactose) basil, oregano leaves, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Be sure to brush olive oil along the crust for a golden brown look. So overall… the pizza was really good. Not bad for my first one that’s for sure! It now can only get better 🙂 I also made a caprese salad and banana nut muffins (adding real banana in the mix). Hope you enjoy!

Dough Ingredients:

1 Tbs. active dry yeast
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. lukewarm water
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup for
working
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and let stand until slightly foamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir together the 2 3/4 cups flour and the salt and form into a mound. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture to the well. Using a fork and stirring in a circular motion, gradually pull the flour into the yeast mixture. Continue stirring until a dough forms.

Lightly flour a work surface with some of the 1/2 cup flour and transfer the dough to it. Using the heel of your hand, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball.

Brush a large bowl with the olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with the remaining flour. Punch down the dough and, using your hand, begin to press it out gently into the desired shape. Then, place one hand in the center of the dough and, with the other hand, pull, lift and stretch the dough, gradually working your way all around the edge, until it is the desired thickness, about 1/4 inch thick for a crusty pizza base and 1/2 inch thick for a softer one. Flip the dough over from time to time as your work with it. (Or roll out the dough with a rolling pin.) The dough should be slightly thinner in the middle than at the edge. Lift the edge of the pizza to form a slight rim.

Transfer the dough to a baker’s peel or baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise again until almost doubled in size, about 20 minutes. Top and bake as directed in your pizza recipe. Makes 1 1/4 lb. dough, enough for a 12-inch thin-crust pizza or a 9-inch thick-crust pizza.