Walker found a copy of Cool Pizza to Make & Bake
It was a fun way to work with him in the kitchen Friday evening, and even be “naughty” and make pizza dough with all-purpose flour. We hadn’t done that in a long time! I adapted the crust and sauce recipes and made two large pizzas. Plenty of dinner, plus lunch the next day. I took my share with me on Saturday for my lunch while hiking –
It was a delicious lunch had while Marmots ran below us…..a friend and I went out to Berkley Park in Mt. Rainier NP. It was a long day but well worth it. (In the photo runs Burroughs with Rainier peeking above)
Perfect Pizza Dough (Adapted from page 16-19)
Ingredients:
- 1 2/3 cups warm water (about 110°)
- 2¼ tsp active dry yeast or 1 packet
- 4 cups all-purpose flour + more for kneading
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 Tbsp extra olive oil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450°, line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Add the yeast to a bowl, pour the water in and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the olive oil and stir.
In a large mixing bowl stir the flour and salt together. Add the yeast mixture and stir with a fork, using your fingers to work in the last flour.
Sprinkle a little extra flour on a work surface, dump out the dough and knead by hand for 5 minutes, using a bench scraper as needed, adding more flour until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Cut the dough in half, roll out each half to fit the baking sheets, using flour as needed.
Top each with 1 cup pizza sauce, toppings and cheese as desired.
Bake one at a time for 12 minutes, check and continue baking until turning golden on top. Ours took about 16 minutes.
Makes 2 large pizzas.
Pizza Sauce (Adapted from pages 20-21)
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small sweet onion, peeled and diced
- 2 tsp granulated garlic
- 3 Tbsp tomato paste
- 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
Blend the tomatoes (with juice) until finely chopped, set aside.
Heat a medium saucepan over medium, add oil and onion, sauté until tender. Add the garlic and tomato paste, stir in. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil over medium. Turn to low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often (do or it will pop and spatter your stove!)
Let cool a bit before using or chill for later use.
Makes about 2 cups.
~Sarah
Your large pizza looks super tasty & well-flavoured too!
Yum! If we have a “cheat meal” it’s usually pizza. I just can’t seem to find a gluten-free crust that tastes awesome… Great post! Love you Mt. Rainier Pictures!!!
Kirk asked for it again, so I know he liked the crust 😉
We pick up pizza once a week – I sooo need to start making my own – this looks AMAZING!
Yummy dough! it didn’t get as done in the middle but the crust was crispy. Should i adjust the oven temp to make it cook more evenly? Can i make this dough ahead of time? If so to which step? How about freezing? Thanks for such a quick tasty recipe!
You can always bake it a bit longer (even up to 5 minutes more). Also, feel free to split the dough into 4 sections, rather than two and bake them the same way. That way you can make them smaller and the middle will get done. I also press the middle as thin as I can and use less sauce in the center. Good luck!!
Thanks! What about making it ahead of time? Will it still cook the same if it sits a few hrs?
You probably would have to punch the dough down if it sat, but if frozen or chilled it would be fine. Most yeast doughs freeze well 🙂 When I use chilled pizza dough I let it sit for 30 minutes on the counter, then I shape.