When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie, That's Amoré

Well, It's official. We will never buy store bought pizza crust again. I have been experimenting with homemade pizza dough for quite some time now and think that I may have finally come close to perfecting my recipe. It still lacks in a couple of pizzeria qualities that I enjoy but it has turned out fluffy and golden every time I have used this recipe. The topping always differ. Pizza is usually a "clean out the crisper night" but the final results are always scrum-didly-umptous.


Pizza Dough
1 Packet instant or rapid rise yeast
1-1 1/4 cup of water
3 cups bread flour (about 14 oz.)
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of corse kosher salt plus more for sprinkling
chopped rosemary or other herbs to taste (optional but I think this makes the dough)


I use plain old fashioned 'have to proof it yourself' yeast, why, because I like to challenge myself for no good reason whatsoever.
So proof the yeast with a pinch of sugar and some very luke warm water (you don't want to kill it because that makes for some nasty dough.) I also make my dough with a stand mixer, because while I like a 'don't kill the yeast and ruin your dough' challenge, I don't enjoy a physical challenge so much. A stand mixer makes this so easy.

Combine half of the flour with salt, yeast, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and one cup of water in stand mixer, blend with machines paddle. With the machine on slow speed, add the flour a little at a time until the mixture has become a sticky ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Kneed for a minute by hand adding as little flour as possible. Put in a bowl greased with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and leave to rise in a warm, draft free place. I put mine in the oven (don't turn it on.....). This process will take about 1-2 hours.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven as hot as you can get it. I can get mine up to about 575ºF. Most comercial ovens bake at about 700ºF. Heat is important in getting a good crunchy crust.

Remove dough from resting place after it has doubled in size and kneed slightly. Push dough down and roll into a ball. Leave wrapped in plastic wrap or towel for 20 minutes or until it fluffs slightly.

Remove dough from wrap and place on pizza pan. I just spread the dough out with my hands to the edge of the tray making sure not to rip it. Holes in pizza dough isn't great, you lose a lot of valuable juices. Then I spray with olive oil over the crust and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Top the pizza with anything you like (our pictured pizza has marinara, sausage, onion, tomatoes, oregano and basil and feta cheese on it), and put in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until the crust looks done.