Saturday, May 2, 2009

Pizza Crust


1,000 frozen pizzas.

That's a lot of pizza.

That's also a conservative estimate of how many my husband has eaten.

Now he's limited to 5 each month. I hit the 5/$11 deal at Woodmans and when they're gone, they're gone.

I'm a mean wife.

But I do make homemade pizza. I'm eternally searching for the perfect pizza crust. Great taste, little effort.

This recipe made 2 pizzas for us. The first night I thought the crust was just okay. The second night I liked it a lot.

Maybe I was just hungry, but it's worth a try.

VERDICT:
Cost: Home
Convenience: Store
Taste: Home
Health: Home
Overall:
Homemade wins every time in my world. Storemade wins in my husband's world. But he's an addict. I liked the ease of using the bread machine (you can make it by hand, too). The crust rolled out easily. I baked it on a pizza stone, and the edges had the perfect crisp. The honey gave it a subtle sweetness, which I liked more than traditional recipes with sugar. I'll definitely make it again, but I'm still searching for a homemade recipe that my husband will like more than frozen.

Mitch's Basic Pizza Dough (2 medium pizzas, 2 hours total)

3 1/2 c flour
1 c warm water
2 TB yeast
2 TB honey
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

1. Pour water, honey, and olive oil into bread pan.
2. Add flour and salt.
3. Make a well in the flour. Pour yeast into well.
4. Snap pan into bread machine, select Dough setting, and push Start! (1 1/2 hours)
5. Roll out crust on floured surface. Poke holes in it with a fork to prevent bubbles. Add sauce, cheese, and desired toppings.
6. Cook at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Notes:
*Can be made by hand - see link below

Today's Bread Machine Lesson:
Pay attention. Otherwise you might end up dumping honey into the actual bread machine rather than the bread pan. This will make a huge, sticky mess and add an extra 20 minutes.

(yes, I did that)

2 comments:

  1. I never heard of honey in a pizza crust-I'll have to try it.

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  2. My husband is also a frozen pizza adict. For my own sanity I try to make "homemade" pizzas every once in a while with a new topping like BBQ Chicken or pepperoni and bacon, but I end up using the store bought frozen bread dough. The problem is I never remember to thaw the dough before hand and end up with a microwaved mess of dough. This recipe sounds tasty and fast! Thanks!

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