Pizza Dough

I have taken a break from posting any recipes after bombarding you with all those endless cookie recipes during the holidays, but have no fear - I'm still cooking.

Today I'm making pizza.

I. Love. Pizza.

I could eat pizza every day. Seriously. I doesn't even have to be good pizza. Sure, I do indeed love the perfect pizza from Boston's North End. And I seriously miss all the crazy varieties available from the pizzeria of my college days. But, I could easily eat Papa Gino's pizza every day for the rest of my life.

But that's enough talk about other people's pizza. Today we're talking homemade pizza.

The pizza dough recipe I am about to share with you will easily roll out to make a 15" circle (about the size of your average pizza stone).

1 1/8c warm water
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tbs Italian seasoning
1 tsp granulated garlic.
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Place all the ingredients into your bread machine (liquids first, yeast last) and set it to run on the dough cycle.

If you're not going to use the dough immediately, store it in the fridge in a bowl greased with a wee bit of olive oil, covered with plastic wrap.

When you're ready for pizza making, allow the dough to warm up a bit before rolling/stretching it to the desired shape.

This dough has a tendency to puff up a bit, so if you prefer a thinner crust pizza, use a cookie sheet instead of a pizza stone, roll it out as thin as you can get it, poke it like crazy with a fork, and bake on high heat (450ish)

For me, I like my crust thick and bread-like, so I roll it out and poke it moderately with a fork. Add a bit of olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and pepper and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

After this initial baking, rub the crust with a cut-in-half garlic clove.

Then add your toppings and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until  you have achieved ooey-gooey cheese perfection.

Why the two-step baking process? This ensures that crusty-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside texture that I just love. Also, it speeds up the process. If you throw the toppings right on the raw dough, it takes forever to cook all the way through.

Ta-da!

Please excuse me whilst I do my pizza-happy-dance. Pizza...Pizza...Pizza...

The next generation of pizza fans.