Pizza Experience

I attempted something new today that I haven’t done before. I tried making pizza on the grill. Unfortunately it did not go as planned due to my lack of experience with making pizza. I had the dough for the crust ready to go on the grill. As I attempted to put the dough on it completely fell apart. All was not lost though as I had a second crust ready to go. Since the family was getting pretty hungry (more me then them), I decided to do it the old fashioned way and to bake the pizza in the oven. This is where it went good. The crust was pretty thin and very crispy once cooked. A lot better then most homemade pizzas I have had in the past. For the sauce and toppings I did nothing special for it this time as it was my first experience and was just hoping to get the dough right. When it comes to pizza, the crust is usually what makes it good anyhow.

Dough Ingredients:

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
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

Instructions:

In a large bowl, add water and dissolve the yeast and brown sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. This will activate the yeast.
Add in the salt and olive oil and mix well.
Mix in 3 1/3 cups flour and mix well.
Place the dough on a clean and well floured surface and knead and adding a little bit 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 till it doubles, about 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the bowl and split in half (there is enough for 2 pizzas here).
On a well oiled cookie sheet and spread the dough out. There should be plenty to cover the entire cookie sheet.
Preheat oven to 425.
Place dough into the oven for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and place sauce on crust, followed by a light dusting of mozzarella cheese, toppings, and finally the rest of the cheese.
Place back in oven for another 15 minutes.
Slice and serve.

The crust turned out perfect! For toppings I used some turkey pepperoni and onions with a cheap spaghetti sauce for the pizza sauce. Next time I will probably get a little crazy with the toppings and do something like a BBQ Pulled Pork pizza or a Chicken Taco Pizza. That is where homemade pizza will become a lot of fun. I may attempt it on the grill again some other, but definitely will make more in the oven.

Tagged as: Pizza Dough

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Bethany September 28, 2008 at 9:21 pm: Wow how yummy! I love pizza!

Jennifer September 29, 2008 at 12:03 am: I’ve never made real pizza from scratch…this looks delicious though!

I’m also a HUGE bbq fan…I’ll be checking our your recipes, for sure Thanks for the comment on my blog!

The Wife October 11, 2008 at 10:09 pm: Yeah, this is the BEST homemade pizza crust ever. Definitely a keeper!!