Of Food And Love: Homemade Pizza Dough

Every Friday, my followers on FB know that at least one of my status updates will be about pizza.    Every Friday our family makes pizza from scratch.  I was always afraid to make my own dough so I used Boboli.  SO delicious.  But, it’s expensive!!  Nearly $5 for one pizza round!  Hmmm, so, in the spirit of I’m-going-to-be-frugal-AND-adventurous I decided it was about time I tried to make my own.  After all, I already make my own bread.  So, from the same book by Jim Lahey, “My Bread” here is the recipe that is painfully easy, NO KNEADING required and a real winner in my book.

Jim Lahey’s book::  My Bread
3 3/4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp instant or other active dry yeast
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp plus a pinch sugar
1 1/3 cup room-temp (approx. 72 degrees) water
extra virgin olive oil for the pans

Stir together flour, yeast, salt, and sugar.  Add water.  Stir using a wooden spoon or a dough mixer, until well blended.  The dough isn’t going to be wet and sticky, it’s a bit stiff.  No worries.
Cover, in the bowl, and let set at room temp for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove from the bowl onto a floured surface.  Form into a ball and divide into two halves.  Cover both, on the floured surface, with a moist kitchen towel for 30 minutes.
That’s it!  When you’re ready, stretch the dough balls onto a well oiled cookie sheet.  No need to worry about making a crust, it really isn’t that kind of pizza dough.  It’s definitely more of a gourmet pie.

My favorite is the pie on the right.  Just mushrooms and onion.  That’s all.  No sauce, only the veggies tossed in olive oil with some fresh thyme leaves and salted.

Enjoy!