Saturday, May 29, 2010

Pizza Crust (thick)

I'm glad the white recipe book isn't copyrighted because the entire thing might be typed out here over the next number of months! But, I can't say it enough, it's the best recipe book ever. This is one of my recipes and it probably has the most variations of anything I make (other than buns maybe). I found it on allrecipes.com (of course) and it's called "Jay's Signature Pizza Crust" and it's currently rated at four-and-a-half stars with 2000+ reviews. Check it out because I'm sure people have posted many interesting ideas and variations there as well.

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water. Let sit for 10 minutes. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Turn dough out onto a clean, well-floured surface, and knead more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form into a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza on a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 to 20 minutes before topping and baking it.

Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Notes:
I find the crust turns out best if I bake the crust for 15 minutes before topping it. This prevents a soggy crust.

This is enough dough for a thick-crusted pizza in an 11x15 baking sheet. (ha ha, that reminds me of my friend LaDawn, who never experienced a rectangular pizza before she saw my Mom make it that way!)

This is also enough for approximately 4 individual sized pizzas, made in foil or glass pie plates. Or you could put them on a baking sheet or stone a well, I guess.

A while back I was on a huge multi-grain flour kick, and I've noted in my book that it's good with multi-grain flour.

My favorite variation is to add (real) Parmesan cheese into the crust, as well as basil and garlic powder. I have no idea about quantities though, so let's say maybe 1/2 cup Parm, maybe 1 tsp (dried) basil, and 1 tsp garlic powder?? That's totally a guess. I incorporate them while I'm kneading the dough.


September 10, 2012: rolled out one batch of this dough till it was thin, spread it with pizza toppings (sauce, pepperoni, cheese), rolled it up and cut it like cinnamon buns. I put them into a greased baking dish, let them rise for another 30 minutes, baked for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. The plan is to freeze them individually and have them ready to reheat for weekday lunches when Tava and Ella come home from school!

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