Pizza is loved by many and it’s usually a good “fall back” food when nothing else sounds good…at least that’s how it goes in our house.
I have never before made pizza dough, it never really occurred to me to make my own dough. We normally buy frozen pizzas or occasionally order one from a local pizzeria, and let’s be honest there is a ton of pizza crusts you can buy in the grocery store if you really wanted to make your own pizza.
But again, seeing that there isn’t a lot to the dough it seems so silly to buy pre-made dough/crust that probably has a lot more added preservatives to it that our bodies just don’t need.
So I made the dough-not realizing that the recipe actually makes 2 crusts (SCORE!).
It was so simple to make, I am actually quite shocked at how easy it was. However kneading the dough was certainly a good work out for my arms! LOL!
The second ball of dough can be frozen for up to a month in the freezer, which ours didn’t last a month, it didn’t even last a week!
Below is the recipe and after that are the two pizzas I made for my family.
Basic Pizza Dough (compliments of Food Network Magazine March 2011 pg.120):
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 ¼ packet of dry active yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for brushing)
3 ¾ Cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1.Whisk 1 1/3 cups warm water and sugar in a bowl; sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the olive oil.
2. Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Gradually stir with a wooden spoon to make a rough dough.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, dusting with more flour if necessary. Form into 2 balls. Brush 2 large bowls with olive oil, add a ball of dough to each and turn to coat with the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature until doubled in size (about 1 hour and 30 minutes). Roll out and top as desired, or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month.
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Pizza Dough
Chicken Breast
BBQ Sauce
Onion
Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)
Any other veggies you would like!
I used the above pizza dough; spread it on a large greased cookie sheet. I cut 1 large chicken breast into cubes and cooked it in light olive oil in a frying pan with a generous amount of black pepper.
I used about ½ cup of Rays Sweet and Spicy BBQ sauce on the crust, then added the cooked chicken, diced onion, sliced black olives, thinly sliced mushrooms (add during last 5 minutes of cooking), and then mozzarella cheese.
I cut the mushrooms thin and add them during the last 5 minutes of cooking. I have read numerous articles that the mushrooms can actually become quite soggy and actually make the pizza soggy as well. Cutting them thin give the edges a nice crunchy texture and no soggy pizza.
Oven was pre-heated to 500 degrees. Pizza was cooked for 10 minutes total.
My husband gave it good review and I enjoyed it however the crust wasn’t rolled out enough, in my opinion, I like a thinner crust…lesson learned for pizza #2!
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Pizza Dough
Chicken Breast
¼ cup Ranch Dressing
2 Tbsp butter (melted)
½ Cup Hot Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
I used the pizza dough I had frozen from the last batch I made. Spread the pizza dough on greased cookie sheet. I spread about ¼ cup of ranch dressing onto the dough. I used full flavored ranch- I didn’t use a low fat/calorie dressing because I wanted a nice thick sauce.
I cooked one large chicken breast in a lightly oiled pan. After the chicken is done cooking I put it between two paper towels to soak up any extra oil so that the pizza didn’t get greasy.
I mixed Franks Hot Sauce (Original is my favorite) with 2 tbsps of melted butter and added chicken. I added butter because in all of the recipes I have read through for actual chicken wings they recommend placing the chicken wings in melted butter and hot sauce, so I figure if that’s what makes good chicken wings it will work for this too.
Once all chicken was coated with mouth-watering hot sauce I spread the chicken on top of the ranch and then add the remaining sauce from the bowl over the top of the chicken. Top with mozzarella cheese.
I baked the pizza at 500 degrees for 10 minutes. I always flip the oven to broil for an additional minute at the end to get the cheese on top nice and melted…just make sure to keep your oven door open and an eye on your pizza-you don’t want it to burn!
You can get really creative and add lots more toppings, carrot slices, celery slices, red onion, green peppers, blue cheese crumbles etc. but considering this was my first attempt I kept it simple! I am sure the next go round will be a different story!
