Homemade pizza dough

I grew up on homemade pizza, my mother was an expert. I am not quite sure where she learned how to make it probably from one of her Italian friends but I do know that she and my Uncle Jerome had a competition of sorts about who made the best homemade pizza. lol In my opinion, who cares, both of them were great. 

Making homemade pizza dough is so easy, you are going to be asking yourself why you haven’t tried this before. This is a very easy dough recipe that requires absolutely no skill to make. The proof is that I can do it at a moment’s notice.

• 5 cups of white flour, it does not need to be sifted
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 packs of dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted Crisco

Measure the flour and the salt and add them to a large mixing bowl. Put this to the side.
In a two cup measuring cup add the warm water, it should feel warm, not hot when you test it on your wrist. Measure the sugar and add to the water. The yeast goes in last and just stir lightly. When it has dissolved completely add slowly to the flour mixture and blend, I use a large wooden spoon. The oil goes in last and this is a good time to get your hands into the mix.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and start to knead. You will want to work this dough with your hands until it has developed elasticity. There is an art to kneading, press down on the dough with the palm of your then pull the dough over the indentation you made with your palm. Keep rotating the dough until it is well mixed. This will take between five and ten minutes. Think of it as culinary therapy. I love kneading dough; it allows me to work out a lot of frustration. Add more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the board.

If it is a cool day, set your oven to 250 degrees long enough to get warm then shut it off. You want your dough to have a nice warm spot in which to rise. Pour a little olive oil into the bowl and coat the bowl well. Put the dough back into the bowl and rub the top of the dough with a little additional olive oil. Cover the dough with a clean dishtowel. It should be kept out of drafts. which is why I like a just slightly warm over.

Let it rise for an hour or two, then check on it. When it has doubled in size punch it back down and let it rise again.

When it has risen a second time it is ready to start making your pizza.

Split the dough in half, put one piece aside, take the other piece and roll it out on a floured surface. I use my wooden cutting board but any clean, floured surface will do. Your crust should be about an inch and a half bigger then you pan on all sides. If you are using a pizza pan, lightly cover it with olive oil. If you use a pizza stone, this step isn’t necessary. Roll the edge of the crust back to make a higher edge, this gives the crust it nice high rim.

I make a very simple sauce for my pizza:

• One large can of tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1-teaspoon garlic powder
• A splash of olive oil

Spread a thin coat over the pizza with a large spoon. Add thinly sliced onion and green peppers, arrange ground beef or Italian sausage on top and cover with handfuls of mozzarella and cheddar cheese grated and mixed. I worked at a pizza parlor as a teen and this is the cheese combination they used. Add a little olive oil over the top and you are ready for the oven.

Repeat with the second piece of dough.

Bake your pizza in a 400-degree oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes or until your crust is golden brown.

This recipe makes two good size pizzas.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

This same dough can be used to make schiacciata. When my children were young this was one of their favorite meals.

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 1 can sliced potatoes
• 1 can stewed Italian style tomatoes
• 1 cup fresh grated mozzarella cheese

Squeeze the sausage out of the casing and into a lightly greased frying pan and saute until brown. Open the cans of potatoes and tomatoes. Drain both of them, really squeeze as much water out of the tomatoes as possible. Drain the sausage and mix it with the potatoes and tomatoes.

Roll out half of the pizza dough. Place on a greased pizza stone or pan. Spoon the mixture onto half of the dough cover with the cheese. Flip the other half over the mixture and seal the edge.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Take it out of the oven, cut into slices and serve it to your adoring family. They will be hard pressed to believe that you made this all by yourself from scratch. Only you will know how very easy it was.