Perfect Pizza
Source of Recipe
Sharon
Recipe Introduction
Have you ever wanted to make your own luscius pizza, loaded with cheese and all your favourite toppings? You Can! Our recipe shows how easy it is, right down to the marvelously thin, crisp crust. What makes pizza crust so crisp? Adding water (not milk) to the simple yeast dough, rolling the dough thin, and baking quickly at a hight temperature.
MIXING THE DOUGH can be handled mostly by an electric mixer, but the last of the flour must be stirred in as the consistency is too thick at that point.
DONT WORRY about having to toss the dough, pizza-chef style, to get it pizza thin. A rolling pin does the job nicely. Transferring the highly elastic dough to the pizza pans is easier if you fold it into quarters first. Building up the rim of the crust keeps filling from over-flowing. Add extras -- mushroom, pepperoni, whatever -- as desired.
List of Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast
about 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
salt
1 1/2 cups water
olive or salad oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 16-ounce can tomatoes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 16-ounce package mozzarella cheese, shreddedRecipe
ABOUT 2 1/2 HOURS BEFORE SERVING
1. In large bowl, combine yeast, 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. In small saucepan, heat water unti lvery warm (120 to 130F).
2. With mixer at low speed, gradually beat water into dry ingredients until just blended. Increase speed to medium; beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. Beat in 1/2 cup flour to make a thick batter; continue beating 2 minutes, scraping bowl often. With spoon, stir in enough additional flour (about 1 1/2 cups) to make a soft dough.
3. Turn dough onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes, adding more flour while kneading, if necessary. Shape dough into ball; place in greased large bowl, turning over so that the top is greased. Cover; let rise in warm place (80 to 85 F) until doubled, about 1 hour.
4. While dough rises, prepare sauce. In 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, in 1 tablespoon hot oil, cook onion and garlic until tender. Add tomatoes with their liquid, tomato paste, sugar, herb seasoning, red pepper and 1 teaspoon salt; heat to boiling, stirring to break up tomatoes. Reduce heat to low; cover partially; simmer 20 minutes. Cool
5. Punch down dough; cut in half; turn onto lightly floured surface. Cover; let rest for 15 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 450 F. Grease two 12-inch pizza pans or large cookie sheets. Roll each dough half into 13 inch circles; place in prepared pans; pinch up edges of each to form rim; brush with oil.
7. Sprinkle circles with 1/2 of the cheese; top with tomato sauce; sprinkle with remaining cheese.
8. Bake 20 minutes or until crusts are golden; cut each into 8 wedges.
Make 8 main-dish servings.
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