What’s for dinner?
But first, a little clip from last summer…
Today
We had some extra sauce and peppers in the fridge, so I picked up some mozzarella and pepperoni and other favorite toppings at the store, and decided it would be a good day to have a “make your own pizza” dinner. I usually don’t think of what to do for dinner until it’s just about dinner time, but today I happened to. It was Friday and I just thought it would be a fun thing to do. Making pizza is kind of a messy process when all the kids are rolling their own dough, but hey I have to wash the floor anyway. (Generally I try to go by the philosophy of if the entertainment lasts longer than the time it takes to clean up the mess it’s worth the clean up. Making pizza is the exception to that rule.)
I tell everyone to roll the dough into a circle and then put it on the tray. Usually, however, they just squish the dough around, roll it out, squish again, sprinkle flour, and sometimes Anne even tries to spin it in the air. Sometimes the pizza ends up in a circle, sometimes it looks more like Mickey Mouse or the Loch Ness Monster. It’s yummy in whatever shape it turns out to be.
Putting on the toppings…
Like I said, this really takes longer to clean up than to actually make and bake. It’s because the recipe is SO easy. When it comes to cooking, I’m all for the easy way of doing things. You might say, well why not just used prepared dough, like Rhodes Rolls or something? That’s a great idea! I do use Rhodes for other things, but for this I usually do it the ‘from scratch’ way. Part of the experience for the kids is to help put the ingredients in the mixer and see chemistry in action. They’re always amazed that the liquid-y goo turns into something great.
So here is the recipe:
No Fail Pizza Dough (the name must be true, because it’s never failed on me and that’s saying a lot! Cookies and other bread recipes fail on me regularly)
1 C. Warm water
1 T. Dry yeast
1 t. Sugar
1 T. Oil
1 tsp. Salt
2 1/2 C. Flour
Place warm water, yeast and sugar in bowl. Let yeast activate until slightly bubbly (about 5 min). Add oil, salt, and flour. Mix in Bosch or other mixer until flour is absorbed. Sometimes I add a little more flour at the end if it still feels too sticky. You should be able to roll it out without getting it stuck to the counter. Split the dough into 3 balls if making individual pizzas, or you can roll it out on a cookie sheet (I always spray the cookie tray with cooking spray first). Top with your favorite sauce, toppings and cheese. The dough will rise while you add the toppings–that’s why I love this recipe! You don’t have to wait for it to rise! Then stick it in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. (Individual pizzas take about 25 min.) I double this recipe for our family, and then we will have leftovers for another night.
Once I had a get-together with friends for a pizza night. I cut out 8″ cardboard circles, wrapped them completely (so it covered the top and bottom of the cardboard) in heavy tin foil. I made the dough and rolled it out, then I actually cut it out in 7″ circles and placed each circle on a foil wrapped cardboard circle. I made 12 of these and put them in the fridge until the party. We set out lots of various toppings and everyone had fun making a custom pizza.
FYI-you can also make the pizza with all the toppings and then freeze it without baking it. When you are ready to eat it, take it out of the freezer and put it straight in the oven, 350 degrees for about 3o-35 minutes.
