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Pizza crust recipe (for whitestripe)

July 7th, 2009 at 03:01 am

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 cups warm water
1/2 teaspoon honey or sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
Fresh or dried Italian herbs (optional)
semolina or cornmeal (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Pour 1/2 cup of water into a mixing bowl and mix in honey and stir to dissolve. Stir in the yeast, and set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining water, olive oil, and salt, then beat in the whole wheat flour (and herbs if using), followed by enough white flour to form a shaggy dough (just so it's slightly sticky, says AS). Turn it out onto the counter and knead until smooth, adding flour as needed to keep it from sticking. For a crisp, light crust, pizza dough should be on the moist side, which means it will be slightly tacky.

Put the dough into an oiled bowl (AS usually oils the bowl with spray oil, canola or olive oil), turn it once to coat, then cover with a towel and set aside to rise until doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes. (AS tries to put it somewhere warmish; in the winter, she places it in front of a heater vent; in summer, in a sunny spot.) Turn the dough onto the counter and divide into the number of pizzas you want. Shape each piece into a ball, set on a lightly floured counter, cover with a towel, and let rise for another 20 to 30 minutes.

Taking one ball at a time, flatten it into a disk, pushing it outward with your palm. Working from the middle, push the dough out with your fingers until it's about 1/4 inch thick and fairly even, thickening slightly at the edge. Or roll the dough into a circle, then push up the sides to make a slight rim. Dust the peel or pan with semolina, cornmeal or flour, set the dough on top, cover with a towel, and let it rest for 10 or 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prebake crusts for about 5 minutes until slightly puffy and brown. Remove pan and puncture and flatten any bubbles in the crust. Add sauce, toppings, cheese and put back in the oven. Bake for about 10 minutes until cheese is melty.

This usually makes 6 individual pizzas for us; we've got hearty appetites though. But most people we cook for do finish theirs too. Smile Also, as I said in my note to you, you can just make some of the crusts, and wrap the remaining dough balls in cellophane and put them in the freezer, then thaw them in the fridge the morning of the night that you will want to make pizza.

Oh, and sorry about the American measurements. Hope you don't find it too hard to do conversions. Smile

3 Responses to “Pizza crust recipe (for whitestripe)”

  1. whitestripe Says:
    1246936201

    thankyou to yourself and AS Smile also wanted to say an extra thankyou for putting the ingredients in 'teaspoon' measurements rather than grams or ounces - you must have a psychic ability that told you i don't own a kitchen scale! Big Grin

  2. whitestripe Says:
    1246936306

    the other measurements (inches and degrees) are easy to work out Smile

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    1246939120

    Nope, we just lucked out there! Most American kitchens don't have scales (and thus most recipes are in teaspoon and tablespoon measurement). Smile

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