Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Homemade Pizza Crust

I had heard about this easy recipe from a fellow blogger and decided to try it last night for some yummy homemade pizza.  IT WAS SOOOOOOO GOOD!  The recipe is called "Jay's Signature Pizza Crust" and I got it off http://www.allrecipes.com/.  It has 4 1/2 stars and A TON of reviews, so it had to be good right?  Right!
And so easy!  Here is the original recipe:

Ingredients
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
1.In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
2.Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
3.Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in 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 a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
4.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). 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 in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
5.Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Here are my add-ins:  I put in some Italian Seasoning and some garlic powder and onion powder in the yeast/oil mixture, right before adding in the flour.  It made it very savory!  I also put pieces of string cheese in the edges of the crust before baking to get that cheesy crust all the pizza places are raving about!  
 
On my homemade pizza, I just use a traditional pasta sauce (special pizza sauce is so overrated!), mozzarella, and whatever veggies and meats I have on hand.  Last night, I topped my pizza with a small can of mushrooms (drained of course), 2 sliced up LARGE tomatoes, some thick cut ham, and a red bell pepper.  I had to cook it on my pizza stone for 20 minutes because of all the juices, but it was so good!  
I ate it again for lunch.  Cold.  Straight from the fridge.  I love eating pizza leftovers!
(Sorry no pictures, my camera battery is dead and is yet to be charged.  I haven't taken pictures for 3 weeks!  lol)

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