Pizza Dough

I am pretty sure Chris thought I was nuts this weekend as I got out the mixer and began to make pizza dough. I will admit that I was even a little unsure of this adventure.

It did not start well. I threw away my first batch of yeast because it didn’t look frothy enough. After mixing up a second round of yeast which I still wasn’t happy with I decided to just dump it in the mixing bowl and see what happened.

While the dough was rising, we made a trip to the grocery store for mozzarella cheese and propane. Not only were we making “from scratch” pizza for the first time, but I was adamant that we had to grill the pizza. I decided to buy a tube of Pillsbury pizza dough in case mine didn’t rise correctly. I was nervous because the yeast looked funny.

All was well, we got home to a big fluffy ball of pizza dough and were ready to begin our mission.

Adapted from Branny Boils Over, Brown Eyed Baker, and Baking Illustrated.

Ingredients:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm (about 110 degree) water
• 4 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/4 cup room temperature water

Directions:

• Combine yeast with 1/4 cup of warm water. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes.
• Briefly mix flour and salt in a stand mixer.
• Add yeast mixture, olive oil, and remaining 1 1/4 cups of water to the mixer.
• Combine until a dough forms.
• Kneed (I used my dough hook) for 7 minutes.
• Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel, and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.
• Divide dough into desired number of sections. I divided into four sections. Each of my four sections is the right size to make one very satisfying personal sized pizza for Chris or a pizza big enough for two meals for me.
• After dividing the dough, let it rest for 10 minutes or so.
• I froze two sections of dough to use later and we made pizzas from the other two sections.

Calories (per 1/4 recipe) ~ 464, Fat ~ 1.5 g, Carbohydrates ~ 97 g, Protein ~ 14 g