Pizza Night!

On Friday, July 24th, we had a visitor… Josh’s 7 year old cousin Taylor (or Ham as the family calls her), was spending the night at Grandy’s house. After trying to wear her out in the pool- which I do not suggest doing with a 7 year old; it will have the complete opposite affect and YOU will be the one that needs a nap afterward!- we decided to make homemade pizza for dinner!

 Taylor helped mix the dough and I’ve included the recipe because it was so easy and yummy, I will continue to use it for pizza night- It sure beats Pizza Hut! I copied this recipe from a food and cooking blog: http://simplyrecipes.com/.

 

INGREDIENTS: 

1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (I used Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Yeast)
3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar

MAKING THE DOUGH:
1   In the large bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer (such as a Kitchen Aid), add the warm water. If you only have a hand mixer, this will work, too.  Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.

2   Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don’t have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand, just make sure to coat your hands lightly with flour! The dough is sticky (and a little fun to play with!)

 3  Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. If you don’t have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then turn off the oven. Place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise. Okay, it was hot in our house but not 75°F , so I just put it on the counter and it was fine.

*At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

BAKING:

Set oven temp to 450°F and let pre-heat for about an hour (if you’re in a hurry, then no biggie). Divide dough how you want, depending on the size of your pizza, and shape into rounds. Top with your favrite sauce and toppings, brush olive oil on the exposed crust and ake 10-15 minutes or until crust is nice and golden brown! Yum! Let it cool off before you eat it though- the roof of Josh’s mouth is still hurting because he was too hungry to wait!

OUR FAVORITE PIZZAS:

BBQ Chicken– Red sauce, freshly BBQ’d chicken, diced sallots (or red onions), red pepper flakes, and BBQ sauce drizzled on top!

Julie’s Veggie– Alfredo sauce, lot’s of fresh basil, jalapeños, sliced mushrooms, and diced shallots (and tons of cheese!)

And what’s pizza night without an original pepperoni pizza? Red sauce, tons of cheese, and pepperoni! ENJOY!