Pizza isn’t the most expensive thing on the planet, but I find that when I crave it, it costs me more than I intended to spend. So I’ve decided to be a little crafty for next time the craving hits.
Today’s kitchen-mess is to make pizza dough – dough for the freezer. The key to this working is knowing ahead of time that you crave pizza, so you can pull your frozen ball of dough out of the freezer in the morning before heading off to work. It will then be thawed and ready for rolling by the end of the day.
The recipe and process is very simple (from Company’s Coming, Baking Simple to Sensational Recipe Book p.14-15). You’ll need:
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 envelope active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (½ cup for pastry board)
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Step 1: Stir warm water and sugar in small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle yeast over top. Let stand for 10 minutes until yeast mixture becomes frothy.
Step 2: Combine 2 cups of flour and salt in large bowl. Add olive oil and yeast mixture. Mix until dough pulls away from side of the bowl and is no longer sticky.
Step 3: Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead for 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 4: If freezing, wrap dough now in 2 layers of plastic wrap and toss in the freezer. If making pizza, place ball in greased bowl, turning once and let rise in a warm location for 1 hour.
Step 5: (Not pictured here) Punch dough down, roll out into 12″ pizza pan forming a rim around the edge.
Step 6: Now go for it… everyone knows how to decorate a pizza! Once covered in goodies, bake at 375 degrees F for about 45 minutes and enjoy!
